IT'S NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND. Drama in Five Acts. By Charles Reade. Author of Gold; Rachel the Reaper; Ladies' Battle; Nobs and Snobs; The Lost Husband; The Double Marriage; Kate Peyton; Foul Play; Put Yourself in His Place; The Wandering Heir; Shilly Shally; The Courier of Lyons; etc. etc. And one of the authors of Masks and Faces; Two Loves and a Life; The First Printer; The King's Rival. London: Printed by Williams and Strahan, 7 Lawrence Lane, Cheapside. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7) Pp. 97 + (1). Buff paper wrappers, printed in black with the play title only.
Notes—(i) This play was reissued in 1890 in a pamphlet printed for private circulation by W. Spearing, 1, Great Queen Street, W.C. The booklet measures 5½ × 8½; contains pp. 148—of which (1) to (4) are regular prelims., (5) to (146) are printed alternately and paged (5) to 76, and (147) and (148) are blank—and is bound in grey paper wrappers, printed in black. The text of this second version shows considerable variation from that of the first, and the play is in four acts instead of five.
(ii) The date at the head of this item is conjectural. Reade's first original dramatization of It's Never Too Late to Mend was written by 1864 and produced in 1865. Coleman speaks in that year of receiving from Laura Seymour a “yellow covered book” of the text of the play, and this book, if printed, was the real first edition. But I cannot prove the existence of a printed text at that date, and prefer to give first place to the pamphlet here described, although, because of the other plays mentioned on the title-page, it cannot be of earlier date than 1872.
(iii) In July, 1860, a dramatization of Reade's novel had been issued in Lacy's Acting Edition. Reade was rightly furious at the unauthorized issue of this version, and hastened to prepare one of his own. For the benefit of those interested I append details of the pirate booklet.
[1860-July]
NEVER TOO LATE TO MEND. A Drama of Real Life in Four Acts, founded on Mr. Charles Reade's Popular Novel. By Colin Hazlewood, author of The Return of the Wanderer, Jenny Foster, Trials of Poverty, Going to Chobham, etc. etc. Thomas Hailes Lacy, 89 Strand (opposite Southampton Street, Covent Garden Market), London. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 65 + (1). List of plays occupies p. (66). Salmon-pink paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other volumes in Lacy's Acting Editions. This volume is unnumbered.
[1877]
THE LADIES' BATTLE: Or Un Duel en Amour: A Comedy in Three Acts. By Charles Reade Esq., author of Gold, Art, The Lost Husband, The Foster Sisters, and one of the authors of Masks and Faces, Two Loves and a Life, King's Rival etc. etc. London: Samuel French, Publisher, 89 Strand. New York: Samuel French and Son, Publishers, 122 Nassau Street. 1 vol. Fcap. 8vo (4¼ × 7¼). Pp. 41 + (3). Advertisements occupy pp. (43) and (44). Salmon-pink paper wrappers, printed in black, uniform with the other volumes in French's (late Lacy's) Acting Editions, of which this is No. 1609.
Note—This is a revised version of the play originally published in 1851 (see above, p. 170).