Mukerji, Dhan Gopal, Stefaniia Nahirna (translator)

Pryhody khorobroho holuba: opovidannia z indiis’koho zhyttia [Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon]

Regensburg: Ukrainske Slovo, 1947. Illustrated wrappers. Item #819

21 cm. 93 pages: illustrations. Text in Ukrainian. Several illustrations have been hand-colored. A slightly soiled copy with an inscription on the half-title page. Additionally, the front wrapper and the first 25 pages, has tiny pinholes.

The first Ukrainian translation of "Gay-Neck, the Story of a Pigeon", a 1927 children's novel by Dhan Gopal Mukerji, which received the Newbery Medal in 1928. It was translated by the prominent public figure Stefania Ivanivna Nahirna (1898-1993), who during the years 1945–48, resided in a displaced persons camp in Regensburg, Germany, where she actively engaged in the activities of the Union of Ukrainian Women in emigration.

The book follows the life of Gay-Neck, an esteemed Indian pigeon, and carries a message of kinship between humans and birds. Mukerji drew inspiration from his childhood experiences with pigeons, although he incorporated insights from others who trained messenger pigeons during wartime. The novel also provides a glimpse into the life of a high-caste boy in the early 1900s and the art of pigeon training. It includes chapters narrated from Gay-Neck's perspective.

Dhan Gopal Mukerji )1890-1936) - an accomplished Indian author who achieved recognition in the United States and received the Newbery Medal in 1928. He pursued his education at various institutions, including the Duff School and Duff College at the University of Calcutta in India, the University of Tokyo in Japan, and universities in the United States, such as the University of California, Berkeley, and Stanford University. Mukerji's literary contributions made him a notable figure in American literature.

Price: $200.00