The Blind Owl [Buf-e Kur] [Signed by D.P. Costello]
![The Blind Owl [Buf-e Kur] [Signed by D.P. Costello](https://d3525k1ryd2155.cloudfront.net/h/482/579/1690579482.0.x.jpg)
- SIGNED
- London: John Calder, 1957
London: John Calder, 1957. Very Good/Very Good. London: John Calder, 1957. First English Language Edition. Octavo (18.5cm); publisher’s cloth in pictorial dust jacket retaining original price (15s); 134pp.; black and white illustrations throughout. Chipping and a few tears to jacket, as is common with this title; mild shelfwear to boards; binding sound. Brief annotations to jacket and text, described further below; a Very Good copy of a scarce title. Signed by translator D.P. Costello at front free endpaper.
Buf-e-Kur is the fevered, obsessive, and haunting masterwork by the father of Persian modernist fiction. Originally published in Bombay in 1937 with "Not for Sale or publication in Iran" stamped on the cover, the novel finally appeared in Hedayat's home country in 1941 after the abdication of Reza Shah, and became an immediate bestseller. The book has since been widely translated and variously banned, as well as blamed for an uptick in suicides among its readers. It appeared in French in 1953 and in English with this edition in 1957, praised by the likes of Andre Breton and Henry Miller, who at one point described it as the best book he had ever read and was keen to see it adapted to film.
This copy signed by New Zealand soldier, diplomat, likely KGB agent, and translator D.P Costello (1912–1964). This translation would have been written after his Moscow posting and after his stint in Paris, around which many of the spying allegations were made. The text here contains only a couple brief marginal notes, likely in Costello's hand; the rear flap of the jacket has crossed out a line calling Hedayat a Persian disciple of Sartre with "No!!!" dramatically written next to it. An intriguing copy of this major work of Iranian literature.
Buf-e-Kur is the fevered, obsessive, and haunting masterwork by the father of Persian modernist fiction. Originally published in Bombay in 1937 with "Not for Sale or publication in Iran" stamped on the cover, the novel finally appeared in Hedayat's home country in 1941 after the abdication of Reza Shah, and became an immediate bestseller. The book has since been widely translated and variously banned, as well as blamed for an uptick in suicides among its readers. It appeared in French in 1953 and in English with this edition in 1957, praised by the likes of Andre Breton and Henry Miller, who at one point described it as the best book he had ever read and was keen to see it adapted to film.
This copy signed by New Zealand soldier, diplomat, likely KGB agent, and translator D.P Costello (1912–1964). This translation would have been written after his Moscow posting and after his stint in Paris, around which many of the spying allegations were made. The text here contains only a couple brief marginal notes, likely in Costello's hand; the rear flap of the jacket has crossed out a line calling Hedayat a Persian disciple of Sartre with "No!!!" dramatically written next to it. An intriguing copy of this major work of Iranian literature.