Michèle CAUSSE

First French translation of one of the reference works on the Nazi concentration camp system.

Of exceptional rarity, this French translation of Primo Levi's first book went as unnoticed as the Italian first edition published in 1947. It would take the author's suicide in 1987 for a second French edition to be published and for this fundamental testimony on the Shoah to become this emblematic work of concentration camp literature.
Michèle Causse's translation reflects the difficulty of transcribing the words of witnesses to the unspeakable. But it was above all the unconscious refusal to hear this voice that contributed to the failure of Primo Levi's first book, like that of R

LEVI Primo
J'étais un homme - Se questo è un uomo
[If This Is A Man]
Buchet/Chastel, Paris 1961, 14 x 19 cm, original wrappers
First edition of the French translation of one of the authoritative works on the Nazi concentration camp system.
Exceptionally rare, this French translation of Primo Levi's first book would go as unnoticed as the original Italian edition that was published in 1947. It was only upon the suicide of its author in 1987 that a second French edition was published and this fundamental testimony on the Shoah became the emblematic work of concentration camp literature.
Michèle Causse's translation reflects the difficulty of transcribing