ISTRATI, Panait. Kyra, my Sister.

(London): Humphrey Toulmin, 1930. First UK edition. Hardcover. 19.6cm by 13.6cm. 256 pages. Translated from the French by Anthony Thorne and with an introduction by Romain Rolland. Rare English translation of Kyra Kyralina (1923), one of the best-known works by Panaït Istrati, whose fiction draws heavily on his experiences in the Balkans and Near East. The novel recounts, through a vivid and episodic narrative, the life of Kyra and her brother Stavro, exploring themes of exile, sensuality, and survival on the margins of society. It was the first novel by a Romanian writer to feature a homosexual character. Istrati’s work, championed by Romain Rolland, blends oral storytelling traditions with a raw, often lyrical realism, earning him the sobriquet “the Gorky of the Balkans.” Istrati was a working class Romanian writer, living mostly in misery, coupled with illness and depression he attempted suicide in 1921 cutting his throat on the way to France. He had written to Romain Rolland the French writer he admired most, and the letter was found on him when admitted to a hospital in Nice. The letter was passed to Rolland who made contact and subsequently helped in getting Kyra published. It became the first volume in his Adrien Zograffi literary cycle. Rolland was fascinated with Istrati’s adventurous life, urging him to write more and publishing parts of his work in Clarté, the magazine that he and Henri Barbusse owned. This a very good copy in attractively decorated cloth, one of 100 numbered copies printed on “Navigation” mould made paper. Rare.