The Shadowy Waters. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1901. Second Edition. Pp , 57, untrimmed. Blue ribbed cloth, gilt rose to right corner, title in gilt on spine, top edge gilt. Head of spine worn, ownership initials to half-title, contents pages in nice condition.

Both this second edition and the first edition published in December 1900 appear to have been printed in small numbers.

The Shadowy Waters, a verse play that Yeats conceived and began writing in 1884, is called by Foster his ‘eternal work-in-progress.’ The play proved almost impossible to stage. There was a private performance for Yeats and Steven Gwynn in London in April of 1904, a production at the Theosophical Society staged by Florence Flarr in 1905 (loathed by Yeats), and further rewrites over subsequent years.

The play first appeared in ‘The North American Review’ on 1st May 1900.

[Wade 30]