GRAZIELLA

London: Nonesuch Press, 1929. No. 1,460 of 1,600 copies. 206 x 125 mm. (8 1/8 x 4 7/8"). [ii], 189, [3] pp.Translated by Ralph Wright.
Original cream cloth with printed pattern of green urns and red flames, smooth spine with printed paper label, top edge gilt on the rough, other edges untrimmed. With original cardboard slipcase (worn at edges). With four headpieces and 30 illustrations in text, 11 of which are colored through stencils at the Curwen Press. Dreyfus 57. ◆Spine label with a small chip at one edge, slight separation between two quires about halfway through, one or two negligible blemishes internally, but an excellent copy, extremely clean inside and out.

This is a charming edition of the semi-autobiographical novel by the multi-faceted writer and politician Alphonse de Lamartine (1790-1869), a man largely recognized as France's first Romantic poet. First appearing in serialized form in 1849 and in book form in 1852, "Graziella" tells the story of a young Frenchman who falls in love with an Italian girl of lower social status. After many carefree months together, the protagonist's passion for the beautiful Graziella cools upon his return to France, and ends tragically when he later learns of her death. The novel is based largely on the author's own amorous experiences in Italy--his real-life Graziella met with a similar fate and left Lamartine full of regret for the rest of his life..