London 1959 by B. Swiderski. Series: London Literary Library, Volume VI. 12.5x19 cm, pp. 552, softcover with wrapper. Very good condition.
Title vignette by Tadeusz Terlecki. On the wrapper a Guestbook by Jan Bulgak.
First edition.
"The action of the book takes place from the last years of the 19th century to the hot summer days of 1914, when "history turned the page" and the "great world revolution" began, which, according to the author, "not only has not ended, but we do not see its end..." The protagonist's life passes between rural, charming Baćkov and Minsk-Litovsk and St. Petersburg, which fascinates the young law student with its splendor, the charm of white nights and the delight of entertainments (not always edifying). In a couple of chapters he moves to Warsaw, then the capital of the "Pryvian country," smelling of the tar of wooden cobblestones. On the basis of almost documentary memories, the author brings out of oblivion the now non-existent world of landowners-originals, parochial nobility, Belorussian peasants and Jews." [publisher's note]