Erōtokritos.

one of 25 copies - inscribed by the author to his sister-in-law

A wonderful familial association copy, inscribed by the author in Greek on the half-title: 'To Maroulis / with love / Seferis / 12 Dec. 46.' The recipient was Amaryllis Zannou-Dragoumi, the sister of Seferis' wife Maro Seferi.

Erōtokritos is a piece of literary criticism by Seferis on the epic poem of the same name. The poem is a romance composed by Vikentios Kornaros in early 17th century Crete, in which the poet narrates the trials and tribulations suffered by two young lovers, Erotokritos and Aretousa, daughter of Herakles, King of Athens. A major source of inspiration for Seferis, Erōtokritos sets great store by true love, friendship, courage, and patriotism, and this is the reason for its later popularity all over Greece.

A fine piece of book production, of which this is just one of 25 examples.

First edition, number 20 of 25 hors commerce copies, inscribed by the author, from a total edition of 75 copies on 'sparto' paper; 8vo (17.5 x 11.8 cm); 6 full-page b&w plates, decorative headpieces, internally fine; original cream wrappers printed in red and black; a fine copy.

Daskalopoulos A67. NB: Modern Greek polytonic orthography transliterated according to the Library of Congress Standard.