Beggar on Horseback; a play in two parts

New York: Boni and Liveright. Very Good. 1925 (c.1924). First Edition. Hardcover. (lacking the original dust jacket, but encased in a professionally-made facsimile reproduction of same; see 2nd image posted with this listing) [good sound copy, ex-library (sort of; see Notes), some browning and chipping to paper spine label, tiny chip at top of front-cover label; one-time owner's name at top of front pastedown, along with his rubber-stamped name and address (a residential address in the northern reaches of Long Beach, California; the stamp appears also on the title page); circulation slip and card pocket on rear endpaper and pastedown]. The last of five plays written by Kaufman and Connelly during their four-year partnership, this is a comedy about a struggling young composer who faces temptation to sell out his artistic ambitions by marrying the daughter of a wealthy industrialist and taking a highly-paid job making widgets. The original Broadway production ran for 223 performances, and was adapted into a silent film in 1925. (Noted on the title page: "Suggested by 'Hans Sonnenstoesser's Hohlenfahrt' by Paul Apel," a 1911 German play.) The gag newspaper ("The Morning-Evening"), tipped in between Part I and Part II (with resulting extreme discoloration to pages 166 and 167), is age-toned but in excellent condition; I think it's possible that it's never been unfolded all the way. I've called this a "sort of" ex-library book, because it appears to have been privately catalogued and set up for circulation (by one John J. Frisch), but never actually circulated: above Mr. Frisch's name on the front pastedown is written "10-2" and "890," additionally "K21" on the page with the play's original cast -- all these indicative, I believe, of some personalized classification scheme devised by Mr. Frisch. There's also a slip affixed to the rear endpaper designating this as a "7 Day Book," but otherwise blank (i.e. no borrower information), and similarly there's a card pocket on the rear pastedown, with a circulation card inserted that's blank except for the authors and title; perhaps he meant to start up his own rental library, but never followed through? NOTE again that this book bears a FACSIMILE dust jacket, to serve the dual purpose of protecting the book from further wear and enhancing its appearance on the shelf; its presence has not been factored in to our pricing. .