121 - [SWEDISH LITERATURE] - LAGERLÖF, Selma

[SWEDISH LITERATURE] - LAGERLÖF, Selma Gösta Berling Stockholm, C. E. Fritze, Court Bookseller, 1937, 2 volumes Large 8vo paperback, with original printed covers, in publisher’s slipcase First edition of the first complete French translation of this seminal masterpiece of Scandinavian literature. Originally published in Sweden in 1891, *The Saga of Gösta Berling* instantly propelled its author, the then-unknown Selma Lagerlöf (1858–1940), to the status of a national icon before she became, in 1909, the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. The story follows Gösta Berling, a charismatic, disillusioned former pastor adrift in life, who is taken in by the eccentric mistress of the Ekeby estate in the heart of Värmland. Flanked by his companions, the “Riders,” he navigates a tapestry of brutal, romantic, and semi-fantastical adventures, drawing directly on magical realism and the myths of Baltic Sweden. The work possesses outstanding artistic value thanks to the frontispiece illustration in Volume I: a splendid etching portrait of Selma Lagerlöf by the great Swedish master Axel Fridell, signed on the plate and countersigned in pencil by the artist. Limited edition of 220 copies; this is copy 1/200 on Antique White laid paper (no. 143). A precious copy bearing Selma Lagerlöf’s handwritten autograph signature in ink, affixed just below the print run notation for Volume I. References: Vana, Bibliography of Scandinavian Literature in French Translation, p. 114; General Catalog of “Je Sers” Publications, 1938, p. 12.