STARYTSKA-CHERNIAKHIVSKA, Liudmyla (1868–1941)

Appii Kliavdii: Drama [Appius Claudius: A Drama]

Item #1633

Kyiv: [Drukarnya "Petryk" / Printed in Kyiv], 1909. 26 cm. 209- 538 pp. Bound in a DP-era quarter blue cloth over blue-and-tan marbled paper-covered boards, blue cloth corners. Carried out of Ukraine during the wartime evacuations, this copy was incorporated into the library of the Ukrainian Secondary School (Ukrayins'ka Himnaziya) at the Dillingen an der Donau Displaced Persons (DP) Camp in Allied-occupied Bavaria. Worn and loose pages with tape repairs on several leaves.

First edition of this landmark historical drama by distinguished Ukrainian writer, playwright, and public figure Liudmyla Starytska-Chernyakhivska (1868–1941), daughter of classical author Mykhailo Starytsky. Set in ancient Rome during the decemvirate, Appiy Klyavdiy ("Appius Claudius") explores themes of autocratic tyranny, civic virtue, and popular resistance—serving as a veiled allegory against Tsarist absolutism in the wake of the 1905 Russian Revolution. Starytska-Chernyakhivska was a key figure in the 1917–1921 Ukrainian national movement and the Central Rada; she was later targeted during the Stalinist terror, arrested by the NKVD in 1941, and died during forced deportation to Kazakhstan.

Price: $150.00