PAVESE, Cesare. The Political Prisoner. Trans. from the Italian by W. J. Strachan. London: Peter Owen. 1955. 8vo. First British edition. Publisher’s dark blue cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dust jacket designed by Wendy des Moulins. A very good or better copy. The cloth clean and bright, the binding tight and a trifle rolled. The contents clean and fine but for some mild occasional singular spots. The dust jacket unclipped (13s 6d net) with some small nicks and chips to spine tips, one or two closed tears, and the spine slightly darkened.
Collects two novellas by the acclaimed Italian author. One of Pavese’s major themes lies in the contrast between the city and the country, and its native people of both locales. Born in the hills and living in Turin, Pavese knew both landscapes well, and it is the countryside to which these two stories belong. The titular story is rooted in Pavese’s own experiences of political imprisonment for his anti-fascist writings, where he was banished to the countryside as per Italian customs at the time. The second story, The Beautiful Summer, is one of Pavese’s earliest works, published in 1940 and winning Italy’s most prestigious literary award, The Strega Prize. It, like many of his works, is a coming-of-age story. Wendy des Moulins, the jacket illustrator, worked closely with Peter Owen and Vision Press for several volumes—a scantily-clad woman and her rejoicing lover fondling away a much-used motif. I can find little on the artist.
PAVESE, Cesare. The Political Prisoner. Trans. from the Italian by W. J. Strachan. London: Peter Owen. 1955. 8vo. First British edition. Publisher’s dark blue cloth lettered in gilt to the spine, in the dust jacket designed by Wendy des Moulins. A very good or better copy. The cloth clean and bright, the binding tight and a trifle rolled. The contents clean and fine but for some mild occasional singular spots. The dust jacket unclipped (13s 6d net) with some small nicks and chips to spine tips, one or two closed tears, and the spine slightly darkened.
Collects two novellas by the acclaimed Italian author. One of Pavese’s major themes lies in the contrast between the city and the country, and its native people of both locales. Born in the hills and living in Turin, Pavese knew both landscapes well, and it is the countryside to which these two stories belong. The titular story is rooted in Pavese’s own experiences of political imprisonment for his anti-fascist writings, where he was banished to the countryside as per Italian customs at the time. The second story, The Beautiful Summer, is one of Pavese’s earliest works, published in 1940 and winning Italy’s most prestigious literary award, The Strega Prize. It, like many of his works, is a coming-of-age story. Wendy des Moulins, the jacket illustrator, worked closely with Peter Owen and Vision Press for several volumes—a scantily-clad woman and her rejoicing lover fondling away a much-used motif. I can find little on the artist.
