The Forest Giant Translated from the French by J. H. Ross
London: Jonathan Cape, 1935. Octavo, light leaf-green cloth, spine embossed with gilt lettering, 158 pp., frontispiece, illustrated with eight black-and-white woodcuts. Spine ends bumped and rubbed, edges of spine and covers lightly rubbed, corners of covers bumped, very light foxing on endpapers and edges of text block, fore-edge and tail of text block untrimmed, fore-edge of several pages throughout uncut, small navy and cream Hugh Rees Ltd sticker on lower-right edge of paste-down endpaper; overall a very good edition. Translated by T. E. Lawrence under the name of J. H. Ross, The Forest Giant was first published in English in 1924. This 1935 edition of Lawrence's fine translation (published shortly after his death) is illustrated with exquisite woodcuts by Scottish artist Agnes Miller Parker, and includes a publisher's note and dedication that are both absent from the original edition.
The publisher notes that Lawrence's translation of the text is 'very free', more a 'rendering' rather than a close translation. Like Lawrence, Romanian-born author Rudolf Bernhardt wrote The Forest Giant under a pseudonym. His story follows a young protagonist on their journey of self-discovery, his growing maturity likened to the life of the forest's giant sequoia. O'Brien, A095. Item #4851
Price (AUD): $130.00