Michael Holroyd — Bernard Shaw

London, Chatto & Windus, 1988-1992. First edition. Cloth. A complete four volume first edition of this illustrated work on Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Complete in four volumes. First edition. With the publisher's request for review for volume four: The Last Life, 1992. Each volume is illustrated with thirty-two plates. Collated complete. A vastly detailed biography of George Bernard Shaw, known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist whose work had a lasting influence on Western theatre, culture and politics. This set includes: The Search for Love, 1988. Exploring Shaw's life from his birth in Dublin, Ireland to his marriage in 1898 and move to London. The Pursuit of Power, 1989. Leaving behind the disappointments of childhood, this volume continues with Shaw's rise in popularity after the publication of Pygmalion in 1914. The Lure of Fantasy, 1991. Witnessing Shaw in old age, becoming a mysterious and comic writer, considered one of the greatest men of letters of the century. The Last Laugh, 1992. Completing the remarkable story of one man's life with the presentation of an Anglo-Irish black comedy being the legal wrangles over Shaw's wills. Written by Sir Michael de Courcy Fraser Holroyd, an English biographer. In the original full cloth binding. Externally, excellent. Original dust wrappers are unclipped other than volume one which has been price-clipped. Wrappers are very smart with light wear to the extremities. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean throughout. Fine . Ill.: Not Stated. Fine/Near Fine.