Perse, St.-John (1887–1975) ; Eliot, T. S. – Translator

Anabasis: A Poem [Revised & Corrected Edition]

New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1949. Revised and Corrected Edition. Hardcover with Dust Jacket.

A definitive modernist production, featuring the French text and T. S. Eliot’s celebrated English translation on facing pages.

This edition is expanded to include critical prefaces by three giants of European literature: Larbaud, Hofmannsthal, and Ungaretti, along with a comprehensive bibliography.

KEY FEATURES
+++ Visuals: Designed with a clean, academic modernist layout; features the original French text alongside Eliot's translation. Facing-page translation; typography reflects the clean academic style of the late 1940s.
+++ Binding: Grey linen-textured cloth with sharp, square corners.
+++ Content: The definitive epic poem of the 20th century, famously compared by Eliot to the later work of James Joyce.
+++ Associated Names: St.-John Perse (Author); T. S. Eliot (Translator/Preface); Hugo von Hofmannsthal (Preface).
+++ Provenance: From the personal library of publisher Ben Raeburn (Horizon Press).
+++ Specs: 9 inches tall / 7-109 pages. +++ Imprint: Early Harcourt, Brace and Company (750 Third Avenue address).

CONDITION: Near Fine/Good+ -- The bindings are notably tight and square. The text block is clean throughout with only light, even age-toning. Minimal evidence of shelf handling. Dust Jacket:  -- Original jacket with the $4.00 price intact. Shows an interior tape repair at the lower spine and light rubbing at the upper spine tip. Generally bright and presents well.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE - 
Anabasis is considered one of the most influential poems of the 20th century, and this 1949 edition corrected many of the previous translation's nuances. For the Raeburn archive, this volume illustrates the high-literary milieu in which Horizon Press operated. Ben Raeburn’s copy of a work translated by Eliot—who essentially defined the 'Horizon' aesthetic of rigor and modernism—is a primary association piece.

SUBJECTS: St.-John Perse, T. S. Eliot, Modernist Poetry, French Literature in Translation, Epic Poetry, 20th Century Classics, Poetry, Modernism, Literary Association.

Item #21536

Price: $45.00