MALCZEWSKI Antoni
Marya. The Ukrainian Novel by ...
With illustrations by E. M. Andriolli
Warsaw 1876, Gebethner and Wolff. Pp. [4], 63, [1], frontispiece, plates 8 with illustrations, format 27x34 cm
Marya - the most famous novel by Antoni Malczewski, inspired by the tragic story of Countess Gertrude Potocki, née Komorowska, who was kidnapped and drowned in 1771 on the orders of Franciszek Saleze Potocki, father of her husband, Stanisław Szczęsny Potocki.
Book illustrated with original photo prints.
"Andriolli's drawings ... are perhaps the most interesting of the illustrations to 'Maria,' and perhaps the best of his engravings" (Banach, Polish Illustrated Book).
"The Ukraine, painted in "Maria" with unusually vivid colors, as a country of melancholy charm, turned into a kind of literary promised land, full of native exoticism, and this became the starting point for remarks about the Ukrainian school, of which Malczewski was regarded as the creator and master" (J. Krzyżanowski, History of Polish Literature).
HARDCOVER PUBLISHER'S PERIOD BINDING. LINEN WITH RICH EMBOSSING AND GILDING, CONTEMPORARY LEATHER SPINE WITH EMBOSSING AND GILDING. IRIDESCENT MOIRÉ CLOTH COVERS
Condition DB+/ drpbne staining of covers, dedication on title page, very small and few rust spots, block is gently unraveling, NICE piece
