This genre of book collecting is given a page on the website, as collectors should be aware that not all photo-illustrated fiction is from the movies.  The stageplay editions can easily resemble film-based photoplay editions and buyers should be wary.  It is also not uncommon to see fiction photo illustrations that are posed by models.

The earliest known film edition What Happened to Mary, a 1912 serial film is also a stageplay or dramatized novel, as the volume contains stills from both the stageplay and serial film.  The text of this fiction tells the story of the stageplay or film as opposed to a previously existing novel.  The Grosset and Dunlap edition for this film is also the first instance of Grosset reprinting an already existing photoplay edition published by Edward J. Clode.

This writer recollects a volume published in the late 1860s with interior photo illustrations from the New York City stageplay.  Of course, the title has been forgotten but the era seems accurate as book publishers were quick to utilize that new technology of photography and printing photos.  Wikipedia will tell us that the first human photo portraits date from 1839.

There are some scattered stageplay editions throughout the late 1800s but it was not until the late 1890s that Grosset and Dunlap began their series of "dramatized novels" that were the first true "photoplay" editions.  Some of these Grosset titles were reprints of stageplay editions by another publisher.  The play The Little Minister, from the novel by James M. Barrie (published 1892) was performed on Broadway circa 1897-1898 with Maude Adams in the lead role.  Barrie added a scene to the play script not read in the novel.  This is an early example of a reprinted novel illustrated with stageplay stills.  Grosset initially issued a two-volume set for this edition.  With the simple combination of stageplay stills and or a novelization of a play script, a new term was coined.  As the feature film industry emerged the term 'photoplay' became a synonym for film or movie.  The creation of a monthly film fan magazine called Photoplay in 1911 popularized the term even more.

As film production proliferated so did the film edition books which eventually outnumbered the occasional stageplay edition.  The major exception would be the publishing by Random House of many First Edition plays with original cast stills as illustrations and/or a list of play credits.  Many titles were reprinted as part of their Fireside Theatre series of Book Club Editions.  Most all Broadway hits from the 1930s-1960s appeared as Random House editions.  There are more than a hundred titles here if one is so inclined.
The remainder of this narrative will focus on Grosset and Dunlap editions and to note some worthy titles and lessen some of the confusion with movie editions.  There is no known reference available for the number of early-stageplay editions published (1897-1940).  This writer is aware of some 90 titles with 75 being Grosset editions.  Collectors of movie tie-ins are more abundant in their pursuits.

There are several instances of a stageplay edition then being reprinted as a photoplay edition.  Lightnin' (1920-1925), The Miracle Man (1915-1919), Twin Beds (1915-1929), and The Call of the North (1910-1914) are examples.  The film dust jacket for The Trial of Mary Dugan (1927-1929) is the same as the jacket for the stageplay, with the exception of different actresses in the title role.  Pigs (1924) was reissued as a film titled The Midnight Kiss in 1926.  The Masquerader (1917-1922) stageplay edition was reprinted with a film credit added to the dust jacket spine.

Another noteworthy example is the Grosset reprint of the novel Dracula by Bram Stoker circa 1927 that mentions the play being performed on Broadway.  The actor Bela Lugosi would go on to repeat his starring role in the Universal film in 1931 and be forever typecast as a vampire.

Enjoy the visual images here and see the similarities to typical film editions by Grosset and Dunlap.  Additional information is always appreciated.

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Last Revision:  October 22, 2025