The Theatre Guild presents Porgy and Bess. Libretto by Du Bose Heyward Lyrics by Du Bose Heyward and Ira Gershwin Settings by Sergei Soudeikine Orchestra Conductor Alexander Smallens Production Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. [Piano-vocal score]. Small folio.  4ff. (photographic portrait; r. title, v. woodcut illustration of donkey pulling a man in a cart; r. Index of Scenes, v. Cast of Characters; r. Story of Porgy and Bess, v. dedication), 559 (music), [i] (blank) pp. First Edition. Fuld p. 539. Title without price and the word "negro" printed uncapitalized in the fourth line of the Story of Porgy and Bess.

Bound in grey cloth, spine cover completely perished, boards heavily stained and worn, joints broken and with ink handwritten German translation neatly penned throughout score. Still, a scarce copy of this first edition, pre-dating the signed limited edition. Porgy and Bess, a folk opera in three acts, was first performed at the Colonial Theater in Boston on September 30th 1935. It opened in New York at the Alvin Theater on October 10th of that same year. The work includes a number of Gershwin's best-known and loved tunes including Summertime, I Got Plenty o' Nuttin, It Ain't Necessarily So and A Woman Is a Sometime Thing.