Ashcroft By Robert Tanitch
Ashcroft
A Definitive Photographic Retrospective, Full Chronology, and Eighth-Decade Archival Tribute to a Twentieth-Century Stage and Screen Titan
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Ashcroft
- Author: Robert Tanitch
- Publisher: Hutchinson, London
- Publication Date: 1987
- ISBN-10: 0091710308
- ISBN-13: 9780009171030
- Edition Details: First Edition, Hardcover Release. Published to commemorate the actress's eightieth birthday.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium cloth-bound hardcover boards with metallic spine stamping, complete with an unclipped illustrated glossy dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Quarto / Large Format (4to), 160 pages. Lavishly structured around an elite visual index featuring dozens of archival theatrical stills, behind-the-scenes film proofs, and an exhaustive historical career chronology.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
- Exterior / Boards: The original hardback cloth covers are exceptionally flat, square, and structurally sound with sharp corners. The spine remains completely uncreased, tight, and undamaged with solid binding integrity and unblemished extremities.
- Interior: Pristine. The text block is robustly bound, tight, and completely square. Internal pages, expansive photographic arrays, and reference margins are beautifully white, crisp, and clean. Entirely free of highlighting, user notations, page folding, or bookseller markings.
- Protective Preservation: Professionally enclosed in a heavy-duty, premium archival cellophane cover, fully shielding the exterior boards from environmental friction or dust accumulation.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good (VG)
- Condition details: Present, unclipped, and structurally sound. Displays typical, limited signs of minor edge wear and light vintage shelf rubbing along the extremities, but remains completely free of extensive missing pieces or major open tears.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in 1987 to celebrate her milestone eightieth birthday, Ashcroft stands as a monumental visual record and definitive biographical chronicle of Dame Peggy Ashcroft. Widely acknowledged by the acting profession, critics, and the public alike as one of the single greatest actresses of the twentieth century, Ashcroft's legendary career spanned over six decades. Renowned theater historian Robert Tanitch meticulously documents her unparalleled artistic trajectory, mapping her definitive Shakespearean triumphs on the London stage alongside her late-career Oscar-winning cinematic peak in A Passage to India and her unforgettable television performances. Graced with rare theatrical photography capturing her legendary pairings with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, this scarce first-edition volume serves as an essential archival keepsake for theater historians, drama students, and serious twentieth-century performing arts collectors.
Author Profile: Robert Tanitch
Robert Tanitch is a highly distinguished British author, theater critic, playwright, and performing arts historian. Educated at Merton College, Oxford, Tanitch has spent decades serving as a prominent theater reviewer for various high-profile publications and has authored numerous acclaimed biographical chronicles of cinematic and theatrical legends, including Olivier, Gielgud, and Guinness. Renowned for his meticulous archival research, crisp narrative pace, and deep understanding of British theatrical heritage, his curated visual histories are celebrated by academics and collectors alike for their definitive chronological precision.
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