KRUSZEWSKA Felicja - Face to the West [first edition 1932].

Warsaw 1932; Literary Institute. 14.5x21.5 cm, pp. 67, softcover. Very good condition (small stain on cover).

First edition. A volume of poems by Felicja Kruszewska (1897-1943), poet, playwright and translator, belonging to the interwar generation, although remaining on the sidelines of literary life. She made her debut in the early 1920s, publishing in "Skamander," among other publications, and her work includes several volumes of poetry, the drama Dream, as well as memoir prose and works for children. Her writings show inspiration from both the Romantic tradition and the poetry of everyday life, with a strong emphasis on the experience of nature and the plight of the common man. Her life was marked by numerous personal tragedies and health difficulties, which influenced her withdrawal from public life in the 1930s. During World War II she was active in the underground as a distributor of underground press. She died in 1943 in Radom, committing suicide in the face of the threat of arrest by the Gestapo. Kruszewska's work, though less well known today, is distinguished by its sensitivity, sincerity and focus on individual experience, often shown against the background of history and social change.

The book's layout was designed by Stanislaw Ostoja-Chrostowski. An edition of 500 pieces.