THE MOUSETRAP. A Play in Two Acts.

Presentation issue. Inscribed association copy, signed by the author to Sir Richard Attenborough. Original blue cloth, triple ruled and with titles in gilt to the upper board. A fine copy, the binding square and firm, bright and fresh. The contents are clean throughout. Housed in a bespoke blue quarter morocco solander case with five raised bands and titles in gilt to the spine.

Inscribed by the author in blue ink on the front endpaper "For Dear Dickie / On our Sixth Birthday / in grateful appreciation / of your "Sergeant Trotter" / from / Agatha". A monumental association copy, inscribed by the author to the multi-award winning actor, director and producer who originated the role of Detective Sergeant Trotter in the world's longest continuously running play. On being convinced by the producer Peter Saunders to star in the debut performance of The Mousetrap, Richard Attenborough and his wife Sheila Sim negotiated a 10% profit share in the play "It proved to be the wisest business decision I've ever made... but foolishly I sold some of my share to open a short-lived Mayfair restaurant called 'The Little Elephant' and later still, disposed of the remainder in order to keep Gandhi afloat". (Attenborough, Richard; Hawkins, Diana: Entirely Up To You, Darling. (2008) London: Hutchinson. p. 180). The Mousetrap had its world premiere on 6th October 1952 at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham. It subsequently visited the New Theatre, Oxford; The Opera House, Manchester; The Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool; The Theatre Royal, Newcastle; The Grand Theatre, Leeds; and the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham, before opening in London at the Ambassadors Theatre on Tuesday 25th November. The play reached 1000 performances on 22nd April 1955 and on 12th April 1958, after the 2,239th performance, became the longest running play of any kind in the history of British theatre. To celebrate the sixth Anniversary of The Mousetrap's London debut, Agatha Christie presented each member of the cast and production team with a specially bound copy of the play, many with a personally inscribed message on the endpaper. (Provenance: Sir Richard Attenborough (presentation inscription); Bonhams, London (Richard Attenborough: Life Both Sides of the Camera, 2015); Lucius Books; Private UK collection).