From An Abandoned Work.

First edition of this classic prose monologue. Octavo, original illustrated wrappers, stitched pamphlet. Presentation copy, inscribed by the Samuel Beckett to his favorite American director, Alan Schneider, "for Alan with love from Sam." The recipient, Alan Schneider (1917–1984), was a major American theatre director whose more than one hundred productions made him a crucial mediator between European modernism and postwar U.S. drama. Best known for staging the American premiere of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1956) and for his definitive collaborations with playwrights such as Edward Albee and Harold Pinter, Schneider developed a spare, psychologically exacting directorial style that helped bring avant-garde and absurdist theatre into the American mainstream. His career was recognized with top theatrical honors, including the Tony Award for Best Director for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1963) and a Drama Desk Special Award in 1984 celebrating the breadth of playwrights he championed. His legacy is further sustained through the Alan Schneider Director Award established in his name. Though Alan Schneider never staged From An Abandoned Work, it has been performed on stage and on the radio several times and remains one of Beckett's more popular short pieces. In very good condition. Ownership signature of Alan Schneider to the half-title page. From the collection of Alan Schneider.