Turiansky, Osip V. (1880-1933)

Poza mezhamy boliu: Kartyna z bezodni [Beyond the Limits of Pain: A Glimpse into the Abyss]

Vienna: Art. Publishing Company, 1921. Publisher's illustrated wrappers. Item #776

Includes postface "Estetychno-krytychni zamitky do tvory Osypa Turians'koho "Poza mezhamy boliu".

173 + LIV pages, accompanied by illustrations, some in color. The book measures 20 cm and features text in Ukrainian. This is a good, uncut copy, notable for its striking yet unattributed cover design. There is light chipping along the edges.

Osyp Turiansky, known under the pseudonym I. Dumka, (1880-1933), was an exceptionally talented individual whose life took a dramatic turn with the outbreak of the First World War when he was conscripted into the Austrian army in the fall of 1914 and sent to the Serbian front. Captured by the Serbs in 1915, he endured a harrowing experience, being one of the few survivors from a group of sixty thousand prisoners of war who were forced to march through the harsh winter conditions in the Albanian mountains.

Reviving from a near-death state, Turiansky channeled this traumatic experience into this autobiographical antiwar novel. The novel, written in 1917 while he was a prisoner of war on the island of Elba and influenced by the expressionist literary tradition, was published in German translation and acclaimed by German and Austrian literary critics as a significant European antiwar work. During this period, Turiansky, residing in Vienna and lecturing at the university, briefly gained recognition as a minor literary celebrity.

Price: $100.00