Description

4°. 83 pp. with black and white illustrations, 5 interleaved full-page green illustrations, original illustrated binding, illustrated endpapers (Very Good, binding slightly dusty with worn edges and some light scratches, otherwise a clean unread copy, old label of a de-accessed library on the spine and old small stamps on the title page). 

A high-quality collection of unique short stories for children, involving places and motives from their imaginary world, was made by a Slovenian female writer Mira Mihelič and her husband, the academic painter France Mihelič.

The author Mira Mihelič (née Kramer, 1912 – 1985) was a Slovenian author, the president of Slovenian Association of Writers between 1963 and 1966, and a president of the Slovenian PEN club between 1966 and 1975. She also won several national awards for her work. Mira Mihelič was born in Split, Croatia, to a Croatian mother and Slovenian father. She learned English, French and German in a Swiss boarding school, and started studying law upon her return to Slovenia. During WWII she joined the Partisan resistance and was imprisoned two times.

This work was made I cooperation with her second husband, a prominent academic painter and professor at the Art Academy of Ljubljana, France Mihelič (1907-1998). 

The illustrations were made in Mihelič’s recognisable style and include his favourite motive of Kurent, a Slovenian version of the Krampus, accompanied by other figures of the carnival, here representing the spring or rebirth. 

This is a rare first edition of the book. A more common reprint was made in 1987. We could trace two examples outside Slovenian institutions (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Haus Potsdamer Straße, Slovene National and Study Library in Trieste).

The book is seemingly in an unused condition. It comes from a de-accessed archive of a publishing house. 

References: OCLC 254932099.