Thirty-Two Poems by Paul Celan; Newly Translated by Michael Hamburger by Celan, Paul; Hamburger, Michael (Translator); Celan-Lestrange, Gisele (Illustrator) - 1985

Norwich: Embers Handpress, 1985. First and Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine. Gisele Celan-Lestrange. Number 76 of 100 copies, first edition of these translations, octavo size, 42 pp., signed by Gisele Celan-Lestrange and Michael Hamburger. Paul Celan (1920-1970) was born Paul Antschel in Romania to a German-speaking Jewish family, his surname was later spelled Ancel and he eventually adopted the anagram Celan as his nom de plume. Celan lived in France and was influenced by the French surrealists but wrote his poetry in German (he was well versed in at least six languages, and also translated the work of many notable poets).

As a German-speaking Jewish survivor of WWII, living in France, Celan struggled immensely throughout his life with feelings of estrangement from his native language; he is said to have tried to create his own version of the language, emotionally dismantling it, resulting in an indirect obscurity and unpretentious darkness. Although not necessarily representative of all his work he is best known for his poem "Todesfugue" (Death Fugue, or Death March); this book gives us the first edition of these translations of thirty-two of his shorter poems. Michael Hamburger has translated much of Celan's work to English, here faithfully printed with a delicate etching by Gisele Celan-Lestrange (1927-1991), Paul Celan's wife.

___DESCRIPTION: Original quarter mauve morocco and marbled paper covered boards, lettering in gilt to backstrip, blue-green handmade paper endpapers, fore- and bottom edges uncut, tissue-guarded frontispiece an original etching by Gisele Celan-Lestrange; on Barcham-Green paper, octavo size (10 5/16" by 6 1/2"), pagination: [3, blank], [1-5] 6-39, [2, blank], [1,colophon], [5, blank], limited edition, this number 76 of 100 copies, signed by Gisele Celan-Lestrange and Michael Hamburger. Housed in a slipcase with grey paper sides, red cloth top and bottom.

___CONDITION: Fine; crisp, clean, as new and free of prior owner markings; in a like slipcase.

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