Kolgosp Tvarin. Kazka. [Animal Farm. A Fairy Story.]

FIRST UKRAINIAN EDITION, frontispiece photograph of the author, the paper gently toned throughout, pp. 91, crown 8vo, original buff wrappers with illustration to front, very good (Fenwick A.10.T25) An excellent copy of this early translation of Orwell's novella - principally notable for the inclusion of a new Preface by the author, the only such introductory material that he would write for the work. It takes the form of a summary of his life and career, but the greater part is given over to a criticism of the Soviet regime and its 'negative influence [...] upon the western Socialist movement' - which must rid itself of that association in order to flourish in the true sense of its name and doctrine. The Preface was written at the behest of the translator, who had conceived the edition for his compatriots in Displaced Persons camps following the Second World War - who had, he wrote to Orwell in seeking permission, been 'profoundly affected' by his early, extempore readings, and 'very vividly reacted to the "absolute" values of the book, to the tale "types", to the underlying convictions [...] and so on'.