KOSINSKI, Jerzy

The Painted Bird [Lengthily Inscribed to Allan Elsner]

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965. First Edition. First Printing, first state, with extraneous line at the top of p.270 struck-through by Kosinski himself, using the same pen he used to write the inscription. Octavo (21cm); brown cloth, with titles stamped in black on spine and author's name in blind on front panel; brown topstain; dustjacket; [xii],272,[4]pp. Lengthily inscribed by the author on the title page, four days prior to publication, beginning with a long quote by Proust: "Every reader reads himself. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself." (Marcel Proust) / For Allan Elsner / with friendship and admiration / Jerzy / New York, October 10, 1965 / Jerzy Kosinski." Base of spine gently nudged, else a fresh, Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $4.95), panels showing subtle toning, light shelfwear, some shallow chipping to crown, a few small tears, with sunning and a few faint splash marks to spine panel; Very Good.

The National Book Award-winning author's first novel under this name, a moving story of a boy separated from his parents during World War II, and the harrowing Eastern European landscape he is forced to navigate before ultimately being reunited with them. Basis for Václav Marhoul's 2019 black & white war drama of the same name. The recipient of this inscription, Allan Elsner (1916-2001), was the long-time proprietor of the First Avenue Bookshop in New York City.

Price: $1,250.00

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