Terre
Paris: Denoël et Steele, 1936. First edition. Softcover. Quarto (11 x 8 1/2"). Original photo-illustrated dust-jacket over blind wrappers. Title in red and black lettering.
A delightful collection of 20 texts accompanied by 30 black and white photographic reproductions of nature and animals, with a modernist aesthetic.
The texts as well as the photographs are by Luc Dietrich (1913-1944), a French writer who met and befriended philosopher and poet Lanza del Vasto in 1932 at the Parc Monceau in Paris. The first thing del Vasto said to Dietrich was "Are you as good as this bread?" The two became inseparable friends for the rest of Dietrich's short life.
Lanza helped and mentored Dietrich in writing, although he always refused to be credited as a co-author. Another of Dietrich's famous friends was poet René Daumal.
After becoming lightly wounded during a bombardment in 1944, Dietrich developed hemiplegia and then gangrene, and died the same year.
Dust-jacket partly rubbed, age-toned and slightly soiled along edges. Book block starting. Two leaves detached but present. Text in French. Dust-jacket in overall good- to good, blind wrappers and interior in very good condition. g- to vg. Item #42198
Price: $150.00