CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF

New York: New Directions Books, 1955. First printing. Near fine in a near fine jacket.. Signed first edition of Tennessee Williams's Pulitzer Prize-winning third play, adapted into the 1958 film starring Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman. Tangled in webs of deceit woven for personal safety and personal gain, the characters of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF struggle to come to terms with the truth throughout the play. The 1958 film added another layer to the obfuscation of truth at the heart of the play by removing references Brick's homosexual desires in response to the Hays Code. A beautiful copy. 8'' x 5.25''. Original brown cloth binding with black spine lettering. Original unclipped ($3.00) color pictorial dust jacket, designed by Alvin Lustig. Illustrated with full-page black-and-white plate before "Notes for the Designer." NYT not credited on verso of title page and all other points. xiv, 198 pages. Signed by Williams on the front free endpaper. Trace rubbing to jacket. Top edge of book a little dusty. Else bright and sharp.