Rare Tennessee William signed and inscribed book

Tennessee Williams signed  

"Women: A Collaboration of Artists and Writers"

 First edition, signed presentation inscription to Jordan Massee and Paul Bigelow, "For Jordan [Massee] and Paul [Bigelow] with love at Xmas, Tenn[essee Williams] and Frank [Merlo]to endpaper, 

 New York, Samuel M. Kootz, [1948]. 

A lovely association copy of this rare publication. 

Samuel Kootz held the exhibition "Women" at his gallery in 1947 featuring works by Picasso, Braque and other gallery artists. The present work joined 11 of the works exhibited to original essays by 11 writers including Williams, Jean-Paul Sartre and William Carlos Williams. 

 Inscribed to Paul Bigelow (1905-88), playwright and one of Williams' closest friends, and Jordan Massee, cousin, and close friend of Carson McCullers. Williams visited Massee at his family home at Macon, Georgia and there was introduced both to the larger-than-life William Jordan Massee senior, who formed the basis of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof's Big Daddy, and to the clandestine world of young gay men in Georgia who's secretive and at times tortured lives would provide a theme that ran through much of Williams' work