The Lost Ones

Stamford, CT: The New Overbrook Press, 1984. One of 250 copies, signed by Beckett. Hardcover. Fine. Oversized folio. 36 pp. Illustrated with seven full-page intaglio prints by Charles Klabunde, all of which are numbered, titled, and signed by the artist. Klabunde used a combination of etching, engraving, and rouletting on large copper plates to produce these images of existential realism. According to the artist, his works of the grotesque are intended to "giv[e] shape and form to the demonic and angelic images that lie within the shadowland of our living essence; the unknown anxiety of despair and meaninglessness in the face of our non-being." This was the first book issued by The New Overbrook Press, the proprietor of which, Charles Altschul, was the grandson of Frank Altschul, creator of the Overbrook Press. The text was translated into English by Beckett himself from his original 1970 version of the book, Le Dépeupleur. Loose, as issued, in original cloth folding case with blindstamped circle motif on both covers. Small abrasion to upper rear corner, else fine.