ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD by Stoppard, Tom - 1967

London: Faber and Faber, 1967. First edition. Near fine in very good plus plus dust jacket.. First printing of the classic existential absurdist play, a grimly humorous exploration of two minor characters from Shakespeare's HAMLET. Though the ending of the play is no surprise to Shakespeare fans (or, indeed, anyone who manages to read the title page), ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD takes its audience on a rather unusual route to get there. Questioning the nature of probability, reality, and existence, Tom Stoppard runs his protagonists through a darkly comic wringer as they come to terms with their impending deaths.
Originally performed at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD has been staged on the West End and Broadway, earning eight Tony nominations and four wins. This scarce hardcover first edition in dust jacket is a particularly attractive copy. 8'' x 4.75''. Original blue cloth binding with gilt spine lettering. Original unclipped (18s) dust jacket. 96 pages. Jacket with a bit of chipping to corners and spine ends, tiny spot of toning to rear corner; a hint of sunning to spine. Binding with a touch of sunning to spine and upper front board; very slight lean. Interior clean and bright.