Produced by Chuck Greif, Fox in the Stars and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net THE ADMIRABLE BASHVILLE OR, CONSTANCY UNREWARDED BEING THE NOVEL OF CASHEL BYRON'S PROFESSION DONE INTO A STAGE PLAY IN THREE ACTS, AND IN BLANK VERSE, WITH A NOTE ON MODERN PRIZE FIGHTING By BERNARD SHAW [Illustration] NEW YORK BRENTANO'S 1913 Price 40 cents net WORKS OF BERNARD SHAW Dramatic Opinions and Essays. 2 vols. _Net_, $2.50 Plays Pleasant and Unpleasant. 2 vols. _Net_, $2.50 John Bull's Other Island and Major Barbara. _Net_, $1.50 Man and Superman _Net_, $1.25 Three Plays for Puritans _Net_, $1.25 The Doctor's Dilemma, Getting Married, and The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet. _Net_, $1.50 The Quintessence of Ibsenism $1.00 Cashel Byron's Profession $1.25 An Unsocial Socialist $1.25 The Irrational Knot $1.50 The Author's Apology _Net_, .60 The Perfect Wagnerite $1.25 Love Among the Artists $1.50 The Admirable Bashville: A Play _Net_, .50 _Postage or Express, Extra_ * * * * * BRENTANO'S Fifth Avenue and 27th Street New York THE ADMIRABLE BASHVILLE "Over Bashville the footman I howled with derision and delight. I dote on Bashville: I could read of him for ever: _de Bashville je suis le fervent_: there is only one Bashville; and I am his devoted slave: Bashville est magnifique; mais il n'est guere possible." ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON. THE ADMIRABLE BASHVILLE OR, CONSTANCY UNREWARDED BEING THE NOVEL OF CASHEL BYRON'S PROFESSION DONE INTO A STAGE PLAY IN THREE ACTS AND IN BLANK VERSE . WITH A NOTE ON MODERN PRIZEFIGHTING . BY BERNARD SHAW [Illustration] BRENTANO'S . NEW YORK MCMXIII This play has been publicly performed within the United Kingdom. It is entered at Stationers' Hall and The Library of Congress, U. S. A. _Copyright, 1901, by Herbert S. Stone and Company_ _Copyright, 1907, by Bernard Shaw_ All rights reserved PREFACE The Admirable Bashville is a product of the British law of copyright. As that law stands at present, the first person who patches up a stage version of a novel, however worthless and absurd that version may be, and has it read by himself and a few confederates to another confederate who has paid for admission in a hall licensed for theatrical performances, secures the stage rights of that novel, even as against the author himself; and the author must buy him out before he can touch his own work for the purposes of the stage.