University of Delaware Library

Special Collections
Samuel Beckett: A Celebration

Godot

En attendant Godot: pièce en deux actes. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, 1952.

This is a copy of the scarce first edition of one of the greatest literary works of the twentieth century.

Gift of the University of Delaware Library Associates.
En attendant Godot: pièce en deux actes. Paris: Les Éditions de Minuit, [1956.]

Third edition. This edition of the play includes photographs from the 1953 Berlin production which featured the original Paris cast performing the play in French.
Waiting for Godot Waiting for Godot: a Tragicomedy in Two acts. London: Faber and Faber, [1956].
First English edition.

When the first London performance of Waiting for Godot, in Beckett's own translation, was proposed, the production immediately ran into censorship problems. Following a private performance of the unexpurgated text at the Arts Theatre Club, planning for the first public performance of Waiting for Godot commenced. Prior to its opening, the Lord Chamberlain forced Beckett to excise specific words and passages or to change them to make them less "objectionable." The text printed here is the one used in the bowdlerized London production.

Gift of Sir Joseph Gold
Waiting for Godot. New York: Grove Press, [1954].
First American edition of the play.

Gift of Sir Joseph Gold

Warten auf Godot. [Berlin]: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1953; translated from the original French by Elmar Tophoven.First German edition.

Beckett's ties to Germany were always close. He lived in Germany for a number of years and was quite fluent in German. In addition, German authors, critics, and theater-goers were supportive of his work and numerous German productions, including several directed by Beckett, occurred over the years.

Gift of Sir Joseph Gold

Godo rul kidarimyo. Soul T'ukpyolsi : Sechong ch'ulp'an hoesa, 1972.

This Korean edition of En attendant Godot was published, as were numerous translations of the play into other languages, following Beckett's award of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

Gift of Sir Joseph Gold
Godot'yu beklerken Godot'yu beklerken, [translated into Turkish by] Ferit Edgü. [s.l.: Altin Kitaplar?], 1969.
This scarce Turkish edition of Waiting for Godot reflects Sir Joseph Gold's efforts to document the worldwide interest in Samuel Beckett's work.

Gift of Sir Joseph Gold
Photograph of Samuel Beckett, by John Minihan, 1984.

The photograph depicts Beckett in London, at the Riverside Studios, assisting with a rehearsal of the 1984 San Quentin Drama Workshop's production of Waiting for Godot.

Gift of Sir Joseph Gold
Waiting For Godot

Waiting for Godot Onstage

Sir Joseph Gold amassed a substantial collection of playbills and programs for productions of Beckett's plays from all over the world. Displayed here are playbills from three early productions of Waiting for Godot.
a. Criterion Theatre (London), September, 1955. First London production.

b. John Golden Theatre (New York), April 1956. First New York production.

c. Ethel Barrymore Theatre (New York), 1957. Early New York production.

 

S. Beckett: Waiting for Godot: 12 original woodcuts, by Emanuel Romano. New York: Libro Publishers, 1967.

This scarce portfolio of the Italian artist Emanuel Romano's woodcuts depicting scenes from Waiting for Godot, was issued in an edition of 12. Each print has been numbered and signed by the artist.

Gift of the University of Delaware Library Associates

Introduction | Early Works | First Novels | Trilogy | After Godot
Endgame | Krapp's | New Fiction and Drama | Fizzles | Poetry
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Last modified: 12/21/10

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