Potee's Gal. A Drama of Negro Life Near the Big Congaree Swamp
- SIGNED
- Columbia SC: The State Co, 1929
Columbia SC: The State Co, 1929. First, Limited Edition. First printing; no. 7 of 250 signed copies. Small, slim octavo (20cm). Maroon cloth; dustjacket; 49pp. Fine copy in the scarce dustwrapper, unclipped (priced $2.50 on front flap), crisp and unworn, very Near Fine.
Dialect drama by a white Southern author, interesting primarily for its controversial back-story. By 1929 Adams (1876-1946), a white physician from Columbia, S.C., had already achieved a measure of national celebrity for his 1927 book of Black dialect stories, Congaree Sketches. The current work, a three-act drama also set in the Congaree River country of South Carolina, was initially greeted with acclaim – until the Stage Society of Columbia [S.C.] proposed to stage the play with an entirely Black cast. As described in the on-line Enclopedia of South Carolina, "... The great public outcry against this decision overwhelmed the quality of the play and the objections of Adams and his many friends. After a bitter exchange of letters with their detractors in the local newspapers, the Stage Society’s board of governors canceled the two productions that had been scheduled for February 5, 1929. Potee’s Gal was never produced on the stage." A somewhat uncommon work, especially in such nice condition.
Dialect drama by a white Southern author, interesting primarily for its controversial back-story. By 1929 Adams (1876-1946), a white physician from Columbia, S.C., had already achieved a measure of national celebrity for his 1927 book of Black dialect stories, Congaree Sketches. The current work, a three-act drama also set in the Congaree River country of South Carolina, was initially greeted with acclaim – until the Stage Society of Columbia [S.C.] proposed to stage the play with an entirely Black cast. As described in the on-line Enclopedia of South Carolina, "... The great public outcry against this decision overwhelmed the quality of the play and the objections of Adams and his many friends. After a bitter exchange of letters with their detractors in the local newspapers, the Stage Society’s board of governors canceled the two productions that had been scheduled for February 5, 1929. Potee’s Gal was never produced on the stage." A somewhat uncommon work, especially in such nice condition.