Night of January 16th.

RAND, Ayn.

$2,250.00

Item Number: 138949

New York and Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1968.

First edition in book form of the successful Broadway play by the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. Octavo, original half cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author in the year of publication on the front free endpaper, “To Wendy – Cordially – Ayn Rand 11/13/68.” Very good in a very good dust jacket which has become adhered to the boards. With an additional dust jacket which is in near fine condition.

Night of January 16th is a theatrical play by Ayn Rand, inspired by the death of the "Match King", Ivar Kreuger. Set in a courtroom during a murder trial, an unusual feature of the play is that members of the audience are chosen to play the jury. The court hears the case of Karen Andre, a former secretary and lover of businessman Bjorn Faulkner, of whose murder she is accused. The play does not directly portray the events leading to Faulkner's death; instead the jury must rely on character testimony to decide whether Andre is guilty. The play's ending depends on the verdict. Rand's intention was to dramatize a conflict between individualism and conformity, with the jury's verdict revealing which viewpoint they preferred.