Foreign Language Imprints from Lorne Bair Rare Books

[Fitchburg, MA: Raivaajan Kirjapainossa ja Kunstannuksella, 1910]. First Edition. Paperback. The author's first book, a collection of socialist poetry published by the Finnish-language socialist paper "Raivaajan." Eemeli Parras (1884-1939) emigrated from Finland to Canada in the first years of the 20th century, joining the short-lived Finnish commune Sointula on Malcolm Island in British Columbia, though the community disbanded in… Read more

[Superior, WI: Tyomies Societyn Kirjapainossa, 1926]. First Edition. Paperback. Proletarian novel by Helmi Mattson, among the more prominent Finnish-American women leftists of the interwar period. Born in Finland, Mattson emigrated to International Falls, Minnesota, married, then relocated to Astoria, Oregon where she edited the important Finnish women's periodical Toveritar. She later moved to New York, where she edited… Read more

Kunming: [Yunnan People's Publishing House], 1992. First Thus. Octavo (18cm); blue/color pictorial glossy paper wrappers; 137pp. Book is overall slightly warped, possibly from damping; wrappers mildly scratched and worn, spine creased. Interiors toned with light foxing. Very Good, sound. The title translates to: "Common Ground: Anthology of Contemporary Midwest Poetry"; a book of the same title and content… Read more

Chicago: Nákladem a tiskem Aug. Geringera, 1913. First Edition. Paperback. Czech-American literary almanac, including a daily calendar, cartoons, poetry, jokes, short stories, and articles on major events of the year, among these the Great Dayton Flood of 1913. Literary content includes tales set among the early Czech settlers of Texas and the Czech upper crust in New York. Uncommon… Read more

Chicago: Tiskem a Nákladem Aug. Geringera, 1899. First Edition. Paperback. Czech-American literary almanac, including a daily calendar, cartoons, poetry, jokes, short stories, and articles on major events of the year, in this case the ongoing Dreyfus Affair and the Philippine-American War. Short stories includes tales set among the early Czech settlers of Texas, Nebraska, and Chicago. Uncommon item in… Read more

[Superior, WI?]: Finnish Federation, 1936. First Edition. Paperback. Finnish language anthology of American proletarian short fiction, including pieces by William Rollins, Jr., Michael Gold, James T. Farrell, Jack Conroy, Erskine Caldwell, and John Dos Passos. OCLC locates two copies in the United States as of March, 2020, at U. Minnesota and the Balch Institute. Octavo (21cm.); publisher's cream pictorial… Read more

Astoria, OR: Western Workmen's Publishing Society, n.d., ca. 1920s. First Edition. Paperback. Proletarian novel by Helmi Mattson, among the more prominent Finnish-American women leftists of the interwar period. Born in Finland, Mattson emigrated to International Falls, Minnesota, married, then relocated to Astoria, Oregon, where she edited the important Finnish women's periodical Toveritar. She later moved to New York,… Read more

Elizabethville, PA: The Hawthorne Press, 1911. First Edition. Octavo (23pp); brown cloth, ribbed, stamped in gilt; VI, 192pp. Boards soiled, rubbed about extremities; lower corners bumped; spine creased. Textblock toned and foxed throughout; bindings slightly shaken. Overall Good. Harvey Monroe Miller-better known as Solly Hulsbuck-published four books of poetry and prose over his lifetime, as well as many… Read more

Superior, WI: Työmies Society Print, 1949. First Edition. A socialist novel of Finnish-American immigrant life -- the title translates literally as "Twisted Paul" -- by one of the leading Finnish-language left-wing literary voices in the United States. Helmi Dagmar Mattson (1890-1974) emigrated to Manitoba around 1910, later settling successively in International Falls, Minnesota, New York City, and Kelso, Washington.… Read more

[Superior, WI: Työmies Society Print, 1949]. First Edition. Paperback. A socialist novel of Finnish-American immigrant life -- the title translates literally as "Twisted Paul" -- by one of the leading Finnish-language left-wing literary voices in the United States. Helmi Dagmar Mattson (1890-1974) emigrated to Manitoba around 1910, later settling successively in International Falls, Minnesota, New York City, and Kelso,… Read more

Tokyo: Nihon Sekijuji-sha, 1958. Later printing. Editions of this book were published throughout the 1950's by the Japanese Red Cross Society (Nihon Sekijuji), in hopes of promoting the organization and a better understanding of its purpose in the new postwar, non-Imperial Japan. Mainly it is a memorial album, packed with b/w photo-illustrations pertaining to the Japanese Red Cross, its… Read more

New York: Benziger Brothers, 1924. First Edition. Octavo (20cm); dark red cloth, stamped in black; 349pp. Spine slightly sunned; minor edgewear and rubbing to boards. Textblock edges and preliminaries slightly toned, else Near Fine. Father Eugene Buechel was a Jesuit missionary who lived and worked with Sicangu and Oglala Lakota (Teton Sioux) communities of the Rosebud and Pine… Read more

Peking: Xin Hua Publication Center, 1995. Second Printing. Square quarto (26cm); plain paper wrappers, in color pictorial dustwrapper w/ gilt; 71pp. Dustwrapper shows moderate toning; mild shelf wear, scratches and rubbing; lower rear edge bumped and chipped towards spine. Interior margins also lightly toned; handling wear, intermittent smudging; rear copyright page has small card w/ English distribution information tipped-in.… Read more

N.p. [Pennsylvania?], 1822. German-American murder poetry broadside recounting the life and death of the Prussian-Polish immigrant Joseph Müller, who eloped to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, with his upper-class wife. Destitute and homesick, Müller would eventually murder his pregnant wife and two children with an axe before hanging himself. Poem consists of sixteen stanzas of eight lines apiece and appears to have… Read more

Shanghai: Tongji University Press, n.d. [1984]. First Edition. Quarto (26cm); plain paper wrappers in color pictorial dustwrapper; 59pp+106pp+[32 plates], English version bound dos-a-dos with Chinese version, with 32 illustrated plates between. General handling wear, with bumping and rubbing about spine hinges; wrapper toned in patches (English side), edges slightly rolled. Textblock edges also toned, otherwise clean and sound, Very… Read more

Paris: Hachette, 1897. Later Edition. 12mo (14cm); dark green cloth, stamped in black and gilt; lxxx,16+224+124pp. Spine cocked; red edgestains; boards mildly soiled and rubbed. with small bumps to extremities; ffep dampstained; foxing throughout text. Contains two fold-out maps of the Louvre and a pocket tipped to rear pastedown with Paris map folded inside. Overall Very Good+. The… Read more

Paris: Hachette, 1972. First Edition. Thick octavo (22cm); printed paper wrappers, in color pictorial dustwrapper; 732pp. Mild soiling and dampstaining to boards and wrapper; extremities chipped w/ slight material loss in places; rear inner flap creased; wrapper verso foxed; textblock toned at margins, with light soiling throughout; ex libris embossed on half-title. Very Good or Better in Very Good… Read more

Beijing: China Youth Publishing House, 2003. First Edition. Quarto (31.5cm); red handmade paper boards, textured, flexible, with silver label tipped on; 104pp. Boards sunned, with some chapping to extremities; slightly detached from textblock in places; ffep has tear along bottom edge; interiors clean and sound. Overall Very Good, with Near Fine text. Masayuki Miyata (1926-1997) was a preeminent… Read more

Paris: L'ecole des loisirs, 1974. First French Edition. Four 32mo (9cm) volumes; orange paper-covered boards in pictorial dustwrappers, in paper pictorial slipcover; 30pp+48pp+[26pp]+[44pp]. Light wear to extremities and trivial soiling; some bumping to spine heels/crowns; "Pierre" has small chip to crown of spine; slipcover has minor abrasions to extremities. Overall a Very Good or Better set. The first… Read more

Shanghai: Nishimura Company, 1939. Edition not stated. This is a privately-issued, commemorative, yearbook-type photo album (shashin-cho) published on behalf of the Imperial Japanese Army medical forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). Specifically it was produced for those who served under military physician captains/commanding officers Nobuo Isa and Tetsuo Fukaya, who were stationed in or near Shanghai at the… Read more