Primo LEVI

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 Robert Antelme's L'espèce Humaine, also written and first published in 1947.
It was only during this decade that some of the greatest works on the Shoah would appear successively: Elie Wiesel's La nuit, 1958; Anna Langfus's Les bagages de sable, 1962; Jorge Semprun's Le grand voyage, 1963; Primo Levi's La trêve, 1963; Charlotte Delbo's Aucun de nous ne reviendra, 1965...

Light foxing on covers, two creases to lower margins of covers, a slight tear without loss to lower right margin of back cover.

Very rare and handsome copy of the first translation of Primo Levi's most important work, with rare wraparound band "Le crime d'Eichmann" included.

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 the words of those who witnessed the unspeakable. Above all, however, it was the unconscious refusal to hear these words that contributed to the failure of this first work by Primo Levi, as it similarly did in the case of Robert Antelme's The Human Race, also written and published for the first time in 1947.
Moreover, it was not until this same decade that some of the other greatest works on the Shoah were published: Night by Elie Wiesel, 1958; Bags of Sand by Anna Langfus, 1962; The Long Voyage by Jorge Semprun, 1963; The Truce by Primo Levi, 1963; None of Us Will Return by Charlotte Delbo, 1965 ...
Rare and fine copy of the first translation of Primo Levi's most important work.