Isaac Babel, Nathalie Babel (Editor)
Isaac Babel: The Lonely Years, 1925-1939 - Unpublished Stories and Private Correspondence.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1964. First printing. Translated by Andrew R. MacAndrew. Illustrated with photographs. xxviii/402 pages.
Volume, measuring approximately 6" x 8.5", is bound in quarter black cloth and orange paper-covered boards, with stamped red and gilt lettering to spine and author's initials stamped in red in the upper outside corner of the front cover. Top edge of text block is tinted red. Book displays very light shelfwear. Binding is firm. Age-toned pages are clean and without markings. Dust jacket exhibits very light wear, with small closed tear at top edge of front panel. Jacket, with price of $6.75 on front flap, is preserved in mylar cover.  
""The Lonely Years" is a document of literary, political and biographical importance. It is also a compelling portrait of a hu"man being of heroic stature. Isaac Babel (1894-1941?) is recognized today as an extraordinary taken in modern Russian literature. A protege and friend of Maxim Gorky, Babel came to prominence in the early 1920's with the publication of "Red Calvary", but as Stalin's repressive regime made the position of the creative writer increasingly difficult during the next decade. Babel published less and less. In 1939, he was arrested; all his papers and unpublished writings were seized, and Babel was never heard until 1957, when Ilya Ehrenburg edited the "rehabilitation: volume of his works..."The Lonely Years" also contains nine short stories by Babel, previously unpublished in book form - none of which appeared in the 1957 Soviet edition. Miss Babel's introduction clarifies many misinterpretations that the absence of facts about her father has encouraged. The original documents in the book's Appendix, which includes a speech delivered by Babel to the Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934, further contribute to our understanding both of the atmosphere in Russia during the 1930's and of Babel's life and art."