HILTON, James.

£2,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

[The Secret of the Wall]. Original manuscript of a three-act mystery play, extensively corrected by the author. "It is the only example of a complete, readable, indeed performable, original play by Hilton in private hands, written at the height of Hilton's fame... thus fulfilling his ambition to complete an original work for the stage" (Lakin).This play, featuring a haunted wayside inn and the ghost of a Roman General, is set near a part of Hadrian's Wall near Appleby in the Lake District. This was a frequent setting for Hilton. The structure comprises Act 1 (22 leaves), Act 2, scene 1 (15 leaves), Act 2, scene 2 (10 leaves), and Act 3 (16 leaves). The first two acts are present here in carbon typescript, and the final act is the top copy. Hilton has extensively reworked the manuscript throughout in black ink. Additional pencil markings present a reader's comments.The manuscript formed part of a large collection of unsorted miscellaneous writings sold at auction in 1999 by the author's heirs. The script is accompanied by an introductory essay, thought to be by John Hammond and Kurt Kausler, of the James Hilton Society.

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