DAVIDSON, John.
A Queen's Romance. A Version of Victor Hugo's "Ruy Blas."
With a cabinet photograph of Lewis Waller in character in A Queen’s Romance, signed “Yours truly, Lewis Waller” demonstrating the charisma that led Max Beerbohm to describe “his eyes flashing luminous shafts as he turns his profile … with the abruptness of a ventriloquist’s dummy”. Spine of book just slightly faded. The production, which was a commission from Waller for a translation of Victor Hugo’s Ruy Blas, carried a burden of expectation for Davidson, but was yet another disappointment. It never recovered from its hostile reviews, which even came from Davidson’s friend Max Beerbohm, and played for less than a fortnight, not earning back his advance.
