MARCH 2, 1947 marked the fiftieth anniversary of Mrs. Fiske's first presentation of
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
in the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York. November 26, 1946, saw evidence of the theatre's revived interest in Hardy's novel when Miss Wendy Hiller first appeared in London at the New Theatre in Ronald Gow's dramatization of
Tess.
It seems to be particularly fitting at this time, therefore, to present the half-century's history of
Tess of the
D'Urbervilles
on the stage together with the texts of significant dramatic versions.