Siepe a Nordovest
Roma: Alberto Stock, 1924. Limited edition. Softcover. Quarto (10 3/4 x 7 3/4"). 66, [2]pp (Text), iii-xviipp (Musical score), [8] leaves (Plates). Original printed wrappers, with red and black lettering to front cover. Decorative vignette on front cover and title page. Illustrated frontispiece portrait of the author by Giorgio de Chirico.
Originally published in 1919, and performed on stage in 1923, "Siepe a Nordovest" (Barrier to the Northwest) is one of Bontempelli's best dramas, along with "Nostra Dea" (Our Goddess) performed in 1925. The author, Massimo Bontempelli, is one of the founders of Italian literary magic realism.
This splendid limited edition contains a musical score at rear, and is handsomely illustrated with 8 hors-text plates by Giorgio de Chirico in his metaphysical style. The plates are reproduced in phototype.
One of 444 copies, of which this is No. 341.
Wrappers age-toned along edges. Spine partly chipped. Very minor and sporadic light water-staining along edges of covers. Upper corner of back cover bumped, thus slightly affecting pages throughout. Pages slightly and evenly age-toned throughout. Text in Italian. Wrappers in overall good-, interior in good to good+ condition. g- to g+. Item #45724
About the artist: Giorgio de Chirico (1888-1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the scuola metafisica art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His most well-known works often feature Roman arcades, long shadows, mannequins, trains, and illogical perspective. His imagery reflects his affinity for the philosophy of Nietzsche and for the mythology of his birthplace. After 1919, he became a critic of modern art, studied traditional painting techniques, and worked in a neoclassical or neo-Baroque style, while frequently revisiting the metaphysical themes of his earlier work.
Price: $250.00