Silvio D'Arzo - Casa d'altri - 1953

In-8° (ca. 22 × 14 cm), pp. 90. Softcover editoriale with a rare illustrated dust jacket in linoleum engraving by Mino Maccari, printed in black on a blue background. Series Biblioteca di Paragone.

First edition in volume, published posthumously, of what is unanimously considered the masterpiece of Silvio D'Arzo, the pseudonym of Ezio Comparoni (Reggio Emilia, 1920-1952). The story first appeared in 1952 on the tenth notebook of the Roman magazine Botteghe Oscure; the following year Sansoni published this first autonomous edition.

A rare book of particular collectible interest, both for its importance in twentieth-century Italian narrative and for the suggestive editorial design, entrusted to the hand of Mino Maccari, author of the powerful illustration on the dust jacket. Antiquarian bibliography expressly records this issue as the first edition, indicating 90 pages and the dust jacket illustrated by Maccari.

Copy in discrete condition, with significant signs of age on the original dust jacket, which nevertheless constitutes a particularly interesting bibliographic and collectible element. The dust jacket shows abrasions, creases, tears and edge losses along the top margin, visible in the photographs; there are also signs of wear and small losses at the edges. The volume shows yellowing, spotting, and darkened spines.

Present a fine ex-libris belonging to Alessandro Pellegrini, important Italian writer and translator.
Autograph dedication at the colophon with a dedication to Pellegrini.

Readers are advised to study the photographs carefully, which document the conservation state of the copy and especially that of the rare original dust jacket.

An important posthumous first edition of one of the most singular and enduring works of twentieth-century Italian narrative, enriched by the graphic design of Mino Maccari.