Taxi Driver Typescript

[NY]: [Bantam]. [1976]. Partial typescript for Elman's novelization of the Paul Schrader screenplay for the classic Martin Scorcese film, ranked 52nd on a list of the AFI's top films of all time. Approximately 75 typescript pages total, about evenly split between multiple reworkings of the first eight pages and the final 13 pages, with five drafts of the first page alone. Approximately nine pages from the middle of the book. Most pages are ribbon-copy; some are carbon typescript; only 13 pages are photocopy. The majority of the pages bear extensive holograph corrections in Elman's hand, showing a labored, almost pained attempt to do justice to the Schrader screenplay, a copy of which is also included, with an additional 19 revision pages of its own. Accompanied by a typed letter signed by Paul Schrader to Elman (although apparently after the fact as it is written on "American Gigolo" stationery and dated 1980), transmitting a copy of the 1974 script and saying that he "subsequently did more work on the script, but this is a fair representation of what was intended." Also included is a cassette tape labeled "Taxi 2," on which Elman dictates portions of his novelization. Elman's pages are in a variety of conditions: some are wrinkled and edgeworn; some are on acidifying paper; some are fine. The screenplay is near fine; the revisions are heavily coffee-stained but entirely legible. Elman wrote a number of novels, at least one book of nonfiction and at least one book of reportage, but is probably most well-known to the general public for his work novelizing Taxi Driver, one of the greatest films of the last century. Also included, for no apparent reason, is one page of lyrics of an Australian folk song. . First Edition.