Ellen Terry and Bernard Shaw, A Correspondence

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1931 Preface by George Bernard Shaw. First edition, first printing. Signed and inscribed by Hemingway to his cousin Ruth White Lowry on the front free endpaper, with reference to the previous owner, Hemingway bibliographer Captain Louis Henry Cohn: "Dear Ruth: - This is really a 2nd hand book because it was the gift of Captain Louis Henry Cohn the great bibliographer - Pauline didn't like it but Shaw and Terry and Capt. Cohn and Lawrence Stallings all did so you may find something in it - I have not read it - They must have been very sure how great they were or very careful to have kept all the letters and been able to find them - Ernest." Publisher's red cloth, with front board and spine lettered in gilt, red topstain; lacking dust jacket. Very good, with toning to spine and board edges, heavy dimming to spine gilt, some very light scratches to rear board, small House of Books ticket (Captain Cohn's bookshop) to rear pastedown. Overall, a uniquely inscribed copy, with exceptional provenance. From the personal library of Hemingway's cousin, Ruth White Lowry. This book is a collection of correspondence between the great Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw (1856 - 1950) and leading English actress Ellen Terry (1847 - 1928). In 1892, Ellen reached out to Shaw, then a 36-year-old music critic, to get his opinion on the career prospects of a musical protégé of hers. This began a roughly 30-year correspondence between the two, which was marked by flirtation, genuine affection, and Shaw's repeated attempts to lure Ellen away from Henry Irving's productions at Lyceum Theatre to star in theatrical productions of his own work. With praise from its New York Times review: "It represents the very flower of the minds and hearts-the select harvest of sentiment and wit-of two of the most remarkable personages of our generation." Captain Louis Henry Cohn (1889- 1953), born in Brooklyn, New York, earned his military rank by fighting in the French Army during World War I. In 1930, Cohn wrote a letter to Hemingway, asking him for permission to compile a bibliography of his works. Hemingway begrudgingly agreed, and in 1931 the book, A Bibliography of the Works of Ernest Hemingway, was published: in a note from Hemingway to Cohn, which was later included as the frontispiece of the bibliography, Hemingway wrote, "I think it all balls to publish bibliographies of living writers". Later, Cohn and his wife, Marguerite, opened House of Books, a successful bookshop specializing in modern first editions. Under the House of Books imprint, Cohn published an edition of Hemingway's short story "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" (1933) limited to 300 numbered copies, and a facsimile of Hemingway's "Bastard Note"-a legal disclaimer page included in the second printing of A Farewell to Arms, with a humorous note to the printer in Hemingway's hand-limited to 93 numbered copies.. Signed. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good.