ITALO CALVINO: THE PATH OF THE SPIDER’S NESTS [1957].

Description

First Polish edition, PIW 1957 | AP bibliophilic binding | Very good condition
First Polish edition of the debut novel by Italo Calvin (1923-1985) – one of the most outstanding Italian writers of the 20th century. The original (Il sentiero dei nidi di ragno) was published in Italy in 1947 and brought Calvino immediate critical acclaim. A Polish translation by the State Publishing Institute in Warsaw was published in 1957. The translation was done by Wladyslaw Minkiewicz (1913-1988) – an outstanding translator of Italian literature, also known for his translations of Moravia and Pavesego. The second Polish edition was not published until 1998 – the 1957 copy therefore has more than forty years of priority.
The story is set in Liguria in 1945. The main character is Pin – a ten-year-old boy who grows up in the chaos of war, seeking his place between the world of children and the brutal world of adult partisans. The spider’s nest paths of the title are secret hiding places accessible only to a child – a metaphor for innocence and escape from a reality that adults cannot reach. The novel is considered one of the best literary depictions of the Italian Resistance and the first work in which Calvin’s characteristic fairy-tale and ambiguous narrative is revealed.

The book block is preserved in very good condition. The copy was bound by hand in an exclusive binding of natural leather by the Polish Antiquarian Bookbindery – creating a unique bibliophilic object, the only such copy on the market.
Item for collectors of Polish first editions of world literature, lovers of Italian prose and bibliophiles looking for objects of documented historical value.

15503-20-AX