How chummy should a writer be with his literary critic? Should he, for example, provide the critic with a signed copy of his latest published work? Sure, it must happen all the time. It certainly couldn't have been much of an issue for poet and playwright Christopher Fry (1907-2005) when he gave writer Derek Stanford (1918-2008) a copy of his verse play "The Dark is Light Enough" in 1954. Stanford had already written Christopher Fry: An Appreciation (1951) and Christopher Fry Album (1952), so he was clearly a strong public advocate of Fry's work. The cover illustration, obscured in the bookseller's composite image, is by Ronald Searle (1920-2011).
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| Christopher Fry Royal Books Catalog Sixty-One Listing Accessed March 17, 2019 |
It would be remiss of any blogger, especially this one, not to show the full Searle cover illustration:
While we're at it, let's briefly digress to Searle's cover illustration for Fry's verse play "A Sleep of Prisoners" published in 1953. The lower part of the illustration shows the prisoners in their uncomfortable makeshift sleep while the upper part soars into the dreamlike interior of St. Thomas's Church where the 1951 London premiere was staged. Note the glaring inconsistency in how Oxford University Press orients the type on the book's spine, here with the infuriating bottom-to-top orientation. These two books were published only a year apart, but one wouldn't want to shelve them next to each other without taking the expedient of quietly flipping one over.
Note: At the time of posting, Derek Stanford's copy of "The Dark is Light Enough" is still available from Royal Books.
Searle's work for the London stage is summarized in "Theatre Design," a 2010 post on Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, here.
Ronald Searle's centenary is coming up on March 3rd. So how should we celebrate?
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| Ronald Searle "The Dark is Light Enough" (1954) by Christopher Fry |
While we're at it, let's briefly digress to Searle's cover illustration for Fry's verse play "A Sleep of Prisoners" published in 1953. The lower part of the illustration shows the prisoners in their uncomfortable makeshift sleep while the upper part soars into the dreamlike interior of St. Thomas's Church where the 1951 London premiere was staged. Note the glaring inconsistency in how Oxford University Press orients the type on the book's spine, here with the infuriating bottom-to-top orientation. These two books were published only a year apart, but one wouldn't want to shelve them next to each other without taking the expedient of quietly flipping one over.
 |
| Ronald Searle "A Sleep of Prisoners" (1953) by Christopher Fry |
Note: At the time of posting, Derek Stanford's copy of "The Dark is Light Enough" is still available from Royal Books.
Searle's work for the London stage is summarized in "Theatre Design," a 2010 post on Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, here.
Ronald Searle's centenary is coming up on March 3rd. So how should we celebrate?
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