Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1965. First Edition. First Printing, first state, with extraneous line at the top of p.270 struck-through by Kosinski himself, using the same pen he used to write the inscription. Octavo (21cm); brown cloth, with titles stamped in black on spine and author's name in blind on front panel; brown topstain; dustjacket; [xii],272,[4]pp. Lengthily inscribed by the author on the title page, four days prior to publication, beginning with a long quote by Proust: "Every reader reads himself. The writer's work is merely a kind of optical instrument that makes it possible for the reader to discern what, without this book, he would perhaps never have seen in himself." (Marcel Proust) / For Allan Elsner / with friendship and admiration / Jerzy / New York, October 10, 1965 / Jerzy Kosinski." Base of spine gently nudged, else a fresh, Fine copy. Dustjacket is unclipped (priced $4.95), panels showing subtle toning, light shelfwear, some shallow chipping to crown, a few small tears, with sunning and a few faint splash marks to spine panel; Very Good. The National Book Award-winning author's first novel under this name, a moving story of a boy separated from his parents during World War II, and the harrowing Eastern European landscape he is forced to navigate before ultimately being reunited with them. Basis for Václav Marhoul's 2019 black & white war drama of the same name. The recipient of this inscription, Allan Elsner (1916-2001), was the long-time proprietor of the First Avenue Bookshop in New York City.

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Bookseller: Lorne Bair Rare Books (US)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 81162
Title: The Painted Bird [Lengthily Inscribed to Allan Elsner]
Author: KOSINSKI, Jerzy
Book Condition: Used
Quantity Available: 1
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company
Place of Publication: Boston
Date Published: 1965
Bookseller catalogs: Modern Fiction; WW2; Holocaust;

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Lorne Bair Rare Books

All items are offered subject to prior sale. Orders must be prepaid, though billing may be arranged for institutions and customers with established credit. Payment may be made by Check, Money Order, Paypal or by valid credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover). Any item may be returned within 10 days of receipt for full refund. Signed and manuscript items carry an unlimited guarantee of authenticity.

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Lorne Bair Rare Books

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Biblio member since 2006

Winchester, Virginia

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About Lorne Bair Rare Books

Lorne Bair Rare Books specializes in books, mansuscripts, and printed ephemera relating to American Social History, with an emphasis on radical and utopian movements of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. We are available in our showroom by appointment, at shows, and on-line through various booksellers' sites or at our website www.lornebair.com.

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Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Inscribed: When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
New: A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
Cloth: "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Octavo: Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Shelfwear: Minor wear resulting from a book being place on, and taken from a bookshelf, especially along the bottom edge.
First State: used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some...
Chipping: A defect in which small pieces are missing from the edges; fraying or small pieces of paper missing the edge of a paperback, or...
Spine: The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Title Page: A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...