Published by YMCA Press Paris, 1932
Seller: Love Rare Books, St Leonards On Sea, East Sussex, United Kingdom
First Edition
Soft cover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. Folio.285mm x 320mm. Card covers are illustrated on the front. 24pp including the title page and final blank page. Full-page illustrations incorporated within the text. Book now in a protective removable acetate sleeve. Rusting to the staples has left the text block loose from the covers with some residual bleed to the very centre of the pages but nothing too egregious. Middle leaves are separated from the rest of the text block. Overall a bright clean copy without further blemishes or inscriptions. A very rare title produced at the YMCA Press. Established in 1925 in Paris the publishers catered for the growing Russian emigre population of the city, who had fled the Revolution. Nadezhda Teffi [1872-1952] the author of this reworking of the traditional tale of an old woman who lives in the forest and devours children, was one such emigre. Originally a supporter of the Revolution, she had already established herself as an author before becoming disenchanted with the direction of the Revolution and leaving Russia and settling in Paris in 1920. The illustrator, Nathalie Parain (nee Tchelpanova) [1897-1958] would go on to become a major contributing artist to the Pere Castor books, bringing to those hugely important French children's books the influences of Soviet Constructivism.