Victorien Sardou; Henry Llewellyn Williams — Fedora

London, John and Robert Maxwell, c1883. First edition. Cloth. A scarce first UK edition of this dramatic novel, which was based upon Sardou's successful French play, with a sensational illustration on the front board. First UK Edition, very scarce. This is the wonderful novel form of Victorien Sardou's successful French play, which opened at the Theatre du Vaudeville in Paris in 1882, and ran for 135 performances. The first production starred Sarah Bernhart, who wore a soft felt hat which soon became a popular fashion for women. This play is directly responsible for the hat being referred to as the 'fedora' today.  This play follows Princess Fedora Romazoff, who is secretly engaged to marry Count Vladimir Yariskin, the son of the St Petersburg police chief. When Vladimir is found mortally wounded, Fedora decides to take vengeance on the perpetrator, Count Loris Ipanoff. Victorien Sardou (1831-1908) was a French dramatist, who is best remembered for his development of the 'well-made play&apos. He wrote several plays that were made into popular nineteenth-century operas, like 'La Tosca' and 'Madame Sans-Gene&apos. This work was adapted by Henry Llewellyn Williams (1842-), a prolific American author and translator. Undated, so dated off of Jisc from an identical copy held at the University of Oxford Libraries.Collated, complete. In the publisher's original cloth binding. Externally, sound. Boards are soiled and discoloured, as is spine. Wear to the spine has resulted in weak joints, with the fraying and loss to the boards. Edge wear to the extremities as well as marks. Hinges are tender, particularly the front hinge. Light spotting to endpapers. Internally, generally firmly bound. Pages are very clean with age-toning to the margins of text. Good . Ill.: None. Good .