Shevchenko, Taras

Kobzar: vybrani poezii [Kobzar: selected poems]

Regensburg: Ukrains'ke Mystetstvo, 1946. Publisher’s wrappers. Item #828

Book measures: 16.5 x 12 cm. 127 pages: portrait. Text in Ukrainian. Series: “Ukrains’ka kliasyka”. Do 85-littia zo dnia smerty T. G. Shevchenka i do stolittia zo dnia napysannia “Zapovitu”. Reprint from “Shevchenko - Kobzar” (Kyiv, 1929). Permitted by authority of Military Government. There is a discrepancy between the publishing date indicated on the front cover, which is 1945, and the date on the title page, which states 1946. A copy with noticeable foxing, soiling, damaged spine, several handwritten notes in text, along with torn and chipped wrappers and several pages.

This book serves as an early example of literature published in a camp for Ukrainian refugees after WWII. Part of the esteemed "Ukrainska Kliasika" series, this publication of his poetry in the displaced persons (DP) camp highlights the cultural resilience of the Ukrainian community amidst adversity. Notably, early books produced in the camps faced censorship by UNRRA and were often limited in quantity, making each copy a precious artifact of post-war Ukrainian literary heritage.

Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) is celebrated as the paramount poet of Ukraine and the vanguard of modern Ukrainian literature. Transitioning to poetry, he published his seminal work "Kobzar" in 1840, a collection of verse that not only earned him the moniker "Kobzar" in homage to Ukraine's wandering minstrels but also solidified his status as a cultural icon. This magnum opus occupies an esteemed position in Ukrainian cultural heritage, embodying Shevchenko's enduring influence.

Price: $200.00