O'Braien, Sof'ia (i.e. Sophie Raffalovich O'Brien) and Pavlo Kovzhun, artist.

[UKRAINIAN AVANT-GARDE – IRISH REVOLUTION] Irliands'ki opovidannia [Irish tales].

L'viv: Nakladom i koshtom Tovarystva "Prosvita", 1925. Octavo (20.2 × 14.2 cm). Original pictorial wrappers by Pavlo Kovzhun; 63, [1] pp. With four photographic portraits interleaved. Good or better; wrappers somewhat worn and soiled; nick to lower left corner; internally very good, save for old private owner stamp to two pages. Item #54584

Rare account of the Irish liberation and revolutionary movement of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, authored by the wife of Irish nationalist and political leader William O’Brien (1852–1928), Sophie O'Brien (née Raffalovich, 1860–1960). Raffalovich herself was a Jew born in Odessa who grew up in France in privileged circumstances. She met O'Brien after his rise to fame during the Plan of Campaign and the two quickly married, with Raffalovich moving to Ireland and entering revolutionary social circles, as well as being active in charity work and a novelist. She later became an important financial backer of the United Irish League and her husband's political career. With four reproductions of portraits and photographs of Charles Stewart Parnell, Roger Casement, Daniel O'Connell, Michael Collins, leading protagonists in the volume's essays. With a lengthy introduction by Nataliia Doroshenko, the likely translator of the volume (it is not clear whether Raffalovich was herself involved or aware of the Ukrainian edition; Doroshenko mentions a Polish translation, from which she may have worked).

Of particular interest is a two-page text explaining the cover design by Pavlo Kovzhun, which represents an Expressionist take on the subject of an Irish landscape. Kovzhun was a Ukrainian avant-garde graphic artist and illustrator, and one of the organizers of the Association of Independent Ukrainian Artists. Initially active as a Futurist, he transitioned toward a combination of Constructivism with elements of the classical and the folkloric in the 1920s. Also included at the back is a dictionary explaining foreign words used throughout.

As of August 2024, KVK, OCLC show seven copies, all in North America.

Price: €600.00

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