Modern Drama Series – A Series of Series

Mitchell Kennerley (Boston, US)
Series dates: 1912-1916
Size: 5.25″ x 7.5″

Little, Brown & Company (Boston, US)
Series dates: 1916-1940
Size: 5.25″ x 7.5″

A series of 13 English and translated modern drama edited by Edwin Bjorkman for the publisher Mitchell Kennerly beginning in 1912 and acquired by Little, Brown, and Co. in 1916. Little, Brown added no new titles and reprinted five of the titles under their imprint. Reprints appear until 1940.

A prospectus for the series (below) is undated, but volume 12 below was published in 1915 and the series transferred to Little, Brown & Co. in 1916. One more title was added to the series after this prospectus was printed, for a total of 13 volumes issued, all originally by Kennerley.

The 13 titles in the Modern Drama Series are listed below. All were originally published by Kennerley. The year of publication is noted. Five of the titles appear as reprints with the Little, Brown imprint. It’s possible Little, Brown distributed copies of the other titles with the Kennerly imprint when they acquired the series in 1916. The series numbering seems to be an artifact of the above prospectus, and series numbers don’t appear on the books, jackets, or elsewhere.

I. Hjalmar Bergstrom. [Danish] Karen Borneman: Lynggaard & Co. Translated by Edwin Bjorkman. $1.50. (1913)
II. Henry Becque. [French] The Vultures: The Woman From Paris: The Merry-Go-Round. Translated By Freeman Tilden. $1.50. (1913)
III. Henrik Ibsen. [Norwegian] Peer Gynt. Translated in the Original Metre by R. Ellis Roberts. $1.25. (1913)
*IV. Giuseppe Giacosa. [Italian] The Stronger: Like Falling Leaves: Sacred Ground. Translated by Edith And Allen Updegraff. $1.50. (1913, reprint 1921)
V. D.H. Lawrence. [English] The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd. $1.00. (1914)
***VI. Zoe Akins. [American] Papa. $1.00. (1913)
***VII. Arthur Davison Ficke. [American] Mr. Faust. $1.00. (1913)
VIII. George Bronson-Howard. [American] The Red Light of Mars. $1.25. (1913)
*IX. Leonid Andreyev. [Russian] The Life of Man: Savva: Sabine Women. Translated By Thomas Seltzer. $1.50. (1914, reprint 1920)
*X. Lord Dunsany. [English] The Gods of the Mountain: The Golden Doom: King Argimenes and The Unknown Warrior: The Glittering Gate: The Lost Silk Gate. $1.25. (1914, reprint 1917)
*XI. Arthur Schnitzler. [German] The Lonely Way: Interlude: Countess Mizzi. Translated by Edwin Bjorkman. $1.50. (1915)
*XII. Edith Ellis Furness (Edith Ellis). [American] Mary Jane’s Pa. $1.00. (1914)
**XIII. Maurice Donnay. [French] Lovers: The Free Woman: They. Translated by Barrett H. Clark (1915)

*Reprinted by Little, Brown (last known reprint, 1930)
**Not listed on series prospectus (above)
***Not listed on 1920 dust jacket title list (below)

The jackets on the earlier Kennerley copies are similar to this, a 1920 Little, Brown and Co. reprint of plays by Lord Dunsany originally published by Kennerley in 1914. The series title is on the top of the jacket front, along with the Dunsany titles in the book. A description of the plays is also on the front of the jacket. Bjorkman is indicated as the editor of the series. The front jacket flap advertises Little, Brown titles related to the book. The price is $1.35.

Eleven titles are listed as available in the series on this 1920 title. Missing are the titles by Akins (#VI) and Fiske (#VII).

Bindings are cloth with simple gold stamping of the author and title.

The half-title page includes the plays included in the book.

The title page includes the year of printing.