Nedjma
New York: George Braziller, 1961. Ismar David (dust jacket design). First American Edition. Hardcover with Dust Jacket. 8vo. Pp. 344. Translated from the French by Richard Howard. With a five-page preface by the editors. Bound in salmon-colored cloth with the title lightly blindstamped on the front board, gilt lettering on spine. Top edge dyed green. Very light wear to corners, else a bright copy. In the pictorial dust jacket that shows light edge-wear, darkening of spine, and light soiling to rear cover. Please see photos. The $4.00 price is intact, accompanied by a stamp of the number 59 in a circle. Near Fine / Very Good. Item #6034 The brilliant dust jacket design by Ismar David reflects that temperament, presenting typography jammed together over a spiral background of swirling concentric circles. This dust jacket is reproduced on p. 44 of The Book Jackets of Ismar David by Misha Beletsky (2011). A handsome copy. Dust jacket is now preserved in a removable, clear archival sleeve.
First American edition, following the first edition, Editions du Seuil, published in Paris, 1956. Yacine's novel is set in the aftermath of Algeria's 1945 uprising; when published, the New York Times review called the novel "Algeria incarnate" and "a swarming symbol of present-day Algeria - half-French, half-Arab, hot-blooded, post-nubile ... ."
Price: $325.00