Description

This uncommon book on the history of Communism in Slovenian language was printed by the underground partisan press during WWII and was originally bound in a silk binding, material obtained from a damaged parachute.

One will immediately notice that the printing quality of the present work is exceptionally high for an underground publication. This is due the fact that it was printed by the Triglav Tiskarna (Press), which was one of only two Partisans publishing operations that possessed (two) large, professional printing presses, as it was hidden in a secret location deep in the forests of south-western Slovenia.

Triglav was one of only two underground Partisan printing operations to feature modern, electric printing presses, and was incredibly valuable to the resistance war effort. Its location was known only to the high command of the Slovene Partisans and the printers themselves, as well as a small number of trusted couriers, who delivered food, paper and distributed printed material.

This example is bound in a dyed parachute silk, a valuable material during the World War II, usually obtained from damaged Allied parachutes, and often used for “luxury” book bindings.

The inscription on the front loose endspaper reads in Slovenian language: “To comrade Sonja for a memory of the battle we fought together in Carinthia. For her strength and dedication. John. Klagenfurt 23. V. 1945.” With he involvement of the Allies in the war in Yugoslavia and their cooperation with the Partisans, many British, American and Canadian men, some of them of Slovenian / Yugoslav origins with a good knowledge of the local language, joined the Partisans. No doubt John signed here, who appeared to rewrite the dedication to Slovenian with small mistakes, was one of them.

Worldcat lists examples in Slovenian institutions and one example in the Bavarian State library.

References: OCLC 1190908336; Bibliografija izdanja u narodnooslobodilačkom ratu 1941-1945 ; Nr. 5670.