WITH DUSTWRAPPER AND FRONTIS BY REX WHISTLER

DINESEN, Isak ~ Seven Gothic Tales; Rex WHISTLER, [Illus.].

FIRST UK PRINTING. Putnam, London: 1934

8vo., burgundy publisher's cloth, lettered in gilt to spine; in the pictorial dustwrapper (clipped) featuring a gothic country scene by Rex Whistler; with coloured frontis replicating the wrapper; THE BOOK a very good copy, in cleaner condition to those often found, a touch marked and pushed at extremities; lightly browned and spotted, mostly to the outer edge of text block and endleaves, slightly cracked at half title, a little webbing showing at gutter, but internally clean and bright; one tiny splash mark to lower edge; THE WRAPPER toned, particularly at backstrip, with some overall rubbing and darkening, mostly to folds, and the odd scratch; a little nicked and chipped at spine and fold tips; the clipping causing a little loss of lettering; unrestored or reinforced; a lovely example. The wrapper is protected in a removable Brodart archival cover. First UK edition of Karen Blixen's first collection of stories. A collection of gothic tales by the Danish author Isak Dinesen. Dinesen (Karen Christentze von Blixen-Finecke) was born in 1885, and grew up just outside of Copenhagen. In 1905 she began to publish in Danish periodicals under the penname Osceola, before moving, in 1913, to Kenya with her husband, where they established a coffee farm in the Great Lakes. It was during her time in the country, and amidst a series of marital problems, that she first began to write. 'Seven Gothic Tales', originally written in English (because she thought it would be more profitable) was completed in 1933, but she struggled to find a publisher. Eventually it appeared in the US under the pseudonym Isak Dinesen, and a few months later, following its success, this UK edition appeared alongside a Danish translation by the author herself. With the Danish stories differing in content from the English, and an outpouring of resentment from critics at her initial choice of language, her subsequent books were always published in Danish first. 'Out of Africa', inspired by her life in Kenya, appeared shortly after, and became work for which she is perhaps best known today. The present work was inspired by her travels in Europe, and many of the tales are set in Italy during the 19th century. The series of interwoven stories include themes of love, freedom, death and the supernatural, as well as such characters as centaurs, fauns, water deities, ghostly long-dead pirates and suspicious-looking monkeys. When once asked why she chose to set the book one hundred years in the past, Blixen reportedly replied that "the past could be more easily recompounded in her imagination" and that she "would not be forced to resort to realism." Scarce in nice condition. “Do you know a cure for me?" / "Why yes," he said, "I know a cure for everything. Salt water." / "Salt water?" I asked him. / "Yes," he said, "in one way or the other. Sweat, or tears, or the salt sea.”

BINDING: Hardcover
CONDITION: Very Good
JACKET: Very Good