Bora, Bohdan and V. Kaplun, artist.

[PRINTED IN A UKRAINIAN POW CAMP IN RIMINI, ITALY] V dorozi: lirika [On the road: poems].

Rimini, Italy: Vydavnytstvo "Zhyttia v tabori" (Life in the camp); Ukrains'kyi tabor polonenykh, 1946. Octavo (20.7 × 15.3 cm). Original (?) crude linen binding, with pictorial front wrapper affixed to board; mimeographed decorative title leaf, IV, 102 pp., with [4] pictorial mimeographed section dividers. Lacking the final unnumbered leaf with the print run information; binding lightly shaken; private monogram owner stamp; else good or better. Item #54301

Rare first volume of poems by Bogdan Bora (1920-1997), printed in a prison camp in Rimini, Italy, shortly after the end of World War II. This book was followed by a second volume, published the same year, which was also mimeographed in a small print run ("U vyriiu", 200 copies). The present work features pictorial wrappers, mimeographed decorative title page and four mimeographed pictorial section dividers, with the text reproduced mimeographically from typescript. The artist was Volodymyr Kaplun. With a four-page preface about Bora's work and its background signed V. B. B. All of the poems were written at Cesenatico, on the Adriatic coast, or Rimini. Like most inmates of the camp, Bora was evidently a former member of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, later known as the First Division of the Ukrainian National Army, which fought against the Soviet Army alongside the Germans. It consisted largely of volunteers from Galicia. Approximately 9000 members of the division were later held in Rimini.

Shortly after Bora's second book appeared, he moved to the UK, where he settled permanently. Apart from the two books by him, this Rimini camp publisher only issued the eponymous camp newspaper and another volume of poems (by Stepan Rykhtyts'kyi).

One of 280 copies printed, according to the colophon leaf which is here missing. Our copy appears to be bound similarly as one other known copy, in a crude blue linen binding. Our copy skips from p. 2 to p. 5, although nothing appears to be lacking. Given the very difficult production circumstances, it is possible different copies varied somewhat.

As of April 2024, KVK and OCLC show four copies worldwide, of which three in North America.

Price: €800.00

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