KEANE, John B. Sharon’s Grave. A Folk Play (Rare first edition)

With a foreword by James M. Healy. Dublin: Progress House, 1960. First edition. pp. 77. Green printed wrappers. A fine copy. Scarce.

First edition of John B. Keane’s third play, published just one year after the sensational debut of Sive (1959). Sharon’s Grave confirms Keane’s gift for fusing folk idiom with tragic form, set against the bleak rural backdrop of greed, superstition, and inheritance disputes.

Keane’s plays, written from the vantage point of his Listowel pub, rapidly found their place on the Irish stage, carrying the voice of rural Ireland to the national consciousness. First editions of his early works, printed in modest numbers by Progress House, are now recognised as cornerstones of modern Irish theatre collecting.

A very desirable copy in the publisher’s wrappers, priced 4/6 net.

[L3 8D]