Yama: The Pit
New York: Bernard Guilbert Guerney, 1929. Very Good / Very Good. Item #33169
New York: Bernard Guilbert Guerney, 1929. First Trade Edition, preceded by a limited issue in 1922. Thick octavo (23.2cm); illustrated dust jacket over matching cloth boards; red topstain; 447pp. Jacket briefly chipped along edges with larger chips at spine ends; clean split along top third of front spine fold; some fading with a brief waterspot to spine. Boards edgeworn with bumping at corners and spine ends; spine a bit cocked, with brief closed tear at head. Front board gives a bit, but binding secure. Pages toned but unmarked. Very Good.
As attested by the multi-national reviews to the back panel, Yama: The Pit, despite being censored in Russia, was a publishing sensation in its time. Based on Kuprin's observations in Kiev, St. Petersburg, and Odessa, the novel is centered on the lives of three sex workers in the Odessa underworld. With the author's blessing and assistance, the Guerney edition includes a more fully-realized version of the story, adding more text than any other translation. Basis for the 1936 Japanese drama Sisters of the Gion, which chronicles the life of two geisha sisters in Kyoto.
Price: $150.00