Dartmoor 1 of 725 by John Rodker first edition signed by the translator 1926

RODKER, John. Dartmoor. Traduction de Ludmila Savitzky. Paris: Aux Editions du Sagittaire, chez Simon Kra, 1926.
 
First edition. 120 x 160 mm. 124 pp, [3]. Original printed paper wrappers, retaining the scarce original transparent glassine wrapper. One of 725 copies on velin de Rives, from a total edition of 750 copies. A very good copy, clean and sound. The original glassine wrapper survives with some creasing and wear.
 
Inscribed by the translator on the front free endpaper to the French novelist Alphonse de Chateaubriant (1877-1951): "A Monsieur A. de Chateaubriant / bien amicalement / Ludmila Savitzky."
Chateaubriant was an important and later controversial French novelist. He won the Prix Goncourt in 1911 for Monsieur des Lourdines and the Grand prix du roman de l'Academie francaise in 1923 for La Briere. During the Second World War he became an outspoken supporter of Nazi Germany. After the Liberation he fled France and was condemned in absentia.
 
Dartmoor derives from Rodker's experiences imprisoned there as a conscientious objector during the First World War. This French translation by Ludmila Savitzky appeared in 1926, several years before Rodker incorporated the material into his Memoirs of Other Fronts. The volume includes a reproduction of a page from Rodker's manuscript. An interesting presentation copy and retaining the fragile original glassine wrapper.