Originally published in 1892, The Countess Cathleen aroused fierce controversy when it was first performed in 1899. The play was frequently revived and almost as often revised, becoming at various points in Yeats's career a decisive indicator of his relations with his literary and theatrical public, of his changing conception of dramatic form, and of the status of his pursuit of Maud Gonne, for whom the play was written.

This volume in the Cornell Yeats reproduces the complete set of extant manuscripts preceding the play's first publication and reassembles the extensive manuscript, proof, and authorial copy to present a crucial body of evidence of Yeats's work and thought in drama and theater over the course of three decades. The Cornell Yeats edition gives literatim transcriptions and photographic reproductions of all the holographic materials pertaining to the writing, revising, and rewriting of The Countess Cathleen from 1889 to 1934. It includes all textual variants from other sources such as typescript, corrected proofs, and prompt copies.