Words like "timeless" and "masterpiece" often accompany the description to Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Written in 1947, Streetcar received a Pulitzer Prize and was an immediate hit on Broadway. Launching the careers of Jessica Tandy and Marlon Brando, who were later cast in the 1951 film, Williams' play continues to be performed and enjoyed around the world. First editions of the play, signed by the author and cast members, can sell at auction for prices upwards of $15,000. Williams has a created a great number of other significant works, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof being an impressive example. Written in 1955 and published by New Directions, first editions regularly fetch $600 to $700. His first real success came with his play, The Glass Menagerie, and this less famous work can be harder to locate. Published by Random House in 1945, copies reach $1,000.
Williams was productive throughout his career with thirty full length plays, as well as dozens of novels, one-act plays, short stories and screenplays. So while Streetcar is always likely to be the most sought after title, collectors can have a connection to this "tour de force" by exploring his other works.
Some of the prices attracted at auction can be a little overwhelming initially, but the keen collector will see an opportunity with Williams to own work that has been created by one of the most acclaimed playwrights of the twentieth century.
Williams, Tennessee. Savitar. Missouri, Columbia (1932). A Yearbook of the University of Missouri
Williams, Tennessee. Field of Blue Children. Story Magazine, New York (1939). The Magazine of the Short Story; Also contains contributions by Jane Eberle, Frederick Scribner, Jesse Stuart, Dorothy McCleary, Prudencio de Pereda, J.W. Palmer, Edde Tarjan, Roderick Lull, and Whit Burnett
Williams, Tennessee. FIVE YOUNG AMERICAN POETS. New Directions, New York (1944). Text includes lengthy contributions by Eve Merriam, Jean Garrigue, John Frederick Nims, Alejandro Carrion, and Tennessee Williams; With 29 previously unpublished poems by Williams
Williams, Tennessee. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. New Directions, New York (1945). Eleven one-act plays, including This Property is Condemned.
Williams, Tennessee. Battle of Angels. Pharos, Murray, Utah (1945). With a note on the play by Margaret Webster and an account of its production in the City of Boston by the author.
Williams, Tennessee. Glass Menagerie. Random House, New York (1945). 5000 copies printed; Black and white frontispiece and 3 plates
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Names Desire. New Directions, New York (1947). Decorated boards and matching dust jacket designed by Lustig
Williams, Tennessee. You Touched Me!. Samuel French Inc, New York (1947). Windham, Donald; A Romantic Play in Three Acts (Suggested By a Short Story of Same Name By D.H. Lawrence)
Williams, Tennessee. American Blues. Dramatist Play Service, New York (1948). Five Short Plays; 1st first printing, with Williams' first name spelled incorrectly as Tennesse on the front cover; 2040 copies printed; The plays included are Moony's Kid Don't Cry, The Dark Room, The Case of the Crushed Petunias, The Long Stay Cut Short, or The Unsatisfactory Supper, and Ten Blocks on the Camino Real.
Williams, Tennessee. One Arm. New Directions, New York (1948). And Other Stories; 1500 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Summer and Smoke. New Directions Books, New York (1948). Jacket design by Alvin Lustig
Williams, Tennessee. Glass Menagerie. John Lehmann, London (1948). A Play in Two Acts; With a introduction by the author.
Williams, Tennessee. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. John Lehmann, London (1949).
Williams, Tennessee. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut (1949).
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. John Lehmann, London (1949). Jacket design by Biro.
Williams, Tennessee. Un Tramway nomm? D?sir. Bordas, Paris (1949). Adaptation de Jean Cocteau d'apr?s la traduction de Paule de Beaumont; with coloured frontispiece and 4 full-page black-and-white lithographed illustrations by Cocteau; 900 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Roman spring of Mrs. Stone. New Directions, New York (1950). 500 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Rose Tattoo. New Directions, New York (1950).
Williams, Tennessee. Young Man with a Screwdriver. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln (1950). Foreword by Tennessee Williams; EVANS, Oliver
Williams, Tennessee. I Rise in Flames, Cried the Phoenix. New Directions, New York (1951). A Play About D.H. Lawrence; With a note by Frieda Lawrence; 310 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Rose Tattoo. New Directions Books, New York (1951). Dust jacket design by Alvin Lustig
Williams, Tennessee. 27 Wagons Full of Cotton. New Directions, Norfolk (1953). And Other One Act Plays
Williams, Tennessee. Camino Real. New Directions, Norfolk (1953). black and white pictorial dust wrapper designed by Alvin Lustig
Williams, Tennessee. Hard Candy. New Directions, New York (1954). A Book of Stories; 1500 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. One Arm. New Directions, Norfolk, Connecticut (1954). 1500 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Kingdom of Earth with Hard Candy. New Directions, New York (1954). A Book of Stories; 100 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. NY: New Directions (1955) (1955). dust-jacket by Alvin Lustig
Williams, Tennessee. Baby Doll. New Directions, New York (1956). The Script for the Film by Tennesee Williams Incorporating the Two One-Act Plays Which Suggested It
Williams, Tennessee. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Secker and Warburg, London (1956). Frontis illustration (black and white plate Sketch of stage setting for the New York production by Jo Mielzner)
Williams, Tennessee. In The Winter of Cities. New Directions, New York (1956). 100 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Baby Doll. Secker and Warburg, London (1957). The Script for the Film; Together with a trial gouache design for the jacket by Donald Green
Williams, Tennessee. Orpheus Descending with Battle of Angels. New Directions, New York (1958). TWO PLAYS
Williams, Tennessee. Suddenly Last Summer. New Directions, New York (1958). Dust jacket art by Gill.
Williams, Tennessee. Hard Candy. New Directions, New York (1959). A Book of Stories
Williams, Tennessee. Sweet Bird of Youth. Secker and Warburg, London (1959).
Williams, Tennessee. Sweet Bird of Youth. New Directions, New York (1959). Dust jacket art by Dan Shapiro
Williams, Tennessee. Le cri du Phoenix *. La Licorne, Paris (1960). I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoenix: A Play About D.H. Lawrence;Two full-page black and white drawings by Arthur Secunda; 230 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Period of Adjustment. New Directions, New York (1960). High Point over a Cavern; Dust jacket art by Harold Bruder
Williams, Tennessee. Three Players of a Summer Game. Secker and Warburg, London (1960).
Williams, Tennessee. Night Of The Iguana. New Directions, New York (1961). A Play in Three Acts; Dust jacket art by Nicola Wood
Williams, Tennessee. Night of the Iguana. New Directions, New York (1962).
Williams, Tennessee. Grand. House of Books, New York (1964). 300 copies and 26 lettered copies.
Williams, Tennessee. Eccentricities of a Nightingale. New Directions, New York (1964). SUMMER AND SMOKE: Two Plays by Tennessee Williams; Dust jacket art by Alvin Lustig; 4000 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. New Directions, New York (1964). 257 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore. Secker and Warburg, London (1964).
Williams, Tennessee. Knightly Quest. New Directions, New York (1966). A Novella and Four Short Stories
Williams, Tennessee. Two-Character Play. Spiral Press, New York (1969). 350 copies printed.
William, Tennessee. Small Craft Warnings. New Directions, New York (1972).
Williams, Tennessee. Out Cry. New Directions, New York (1973). 1,546 copies of this title bound in cloth and 5,967 copies bound in wraps
Williams, Tennessee. Eight Mortal Ladies Possessed. New Directions, New York (1974). A Book of Stories; 2977 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. New Directions, New York (1975). 1497 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Doubleday, New York (1975). 400 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Moise and the World of Reason. Simon and Schuster, New York (1975). 350 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Doubleday, New York (1975).
Williams, Tennessee. Memoirs. Doubleday (1976).
Williams, Tennessee. Tennessee Williams' Letters to Donald Windham. Sandy Campbell, Verona (1976). Edited and with comments by Donald Windham; 526 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Androgyne, Mon Amour. New Directions, New York (1977). Color frontispiece from a drawing by Williams laid in loose; 200 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. World of Tennessee Williams. G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York (1978). Edited by Richard F. Leavitt; 250 copies printed.
Williams, Tennessee. Vieux Carre. Golden Eagle Productions, New York (1978).
Williams, Tennessee. Where I Live. New Directions, New York (1978). Selected Essays; Edited by Christine R. Day and Bob Woods
Williams, Tennessee. Vieux Carr?. New Directions, New York (1979).
Williams, Tennessee. A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur. New Directions, New York (1980).
Williams, Tennessee. Selected Plays. Franklin Library, Franklin Center, Pennsylvania (1980). with illustrations by Herbert Tauss; Includes the plays: The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Camino Real, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Sweet Bird of Youth, and The Night of the Iguana
Williams, Tennessee. SNOWFALL. Portland (1980). THOMAS LANIER WILLIAMS III; 200 copies printed and 26 lettered copies.
Williams, Tennessee. Steps Must Be Gentle. Targ Editions, New York (1980). A Dramatic Readings for Two Performers; 350 copies printed; Designed by Ronald Gordon
Williams, Tennessee. It Happened the Day the Sun Rose. Sylvester And Orphano's, Los Angeles (1981). 330 copies printed; title page woodcut by Achilles Droungas
Williams, Tennessee. Theatre of Tennessee Williams. New Directions, New York (1981). Consists of: Volume I: Battle of Angels, The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire Volume II: The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo, Camino Real Volume III: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Orpheus Descending, Suddenly Last Summer [signed on the title page] Volume IV: Sweet Bird of Youth, Period of Adjustment; The Night of the Iguana; Volume V: The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, Kingdom of Earth (The Seven Descents of Myrtle), Small Craft Warnings, The Two-Character Play Volume VI: 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other Short Plays Volume VII: In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel and Other Plays The posthumously published Volume VIII
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. Wild Carrot Press, Hadley (1982). With a Foreword by Jessica Tandy and with an Introduction by the Author; 4 full-page tinted plates and an original color and black and white lithograph frontispiece on Rives Paper by Al Hirschfeld; 2000 copies printed; Designed by Gabriel Rummonds
Williams, Tennessee. Remarkable Rooming-House of Mme. Albondocani Press, New York (1984). 176 copies printed including 26 lettered copies.