Out of Africa. By Isak Dinesen. Illustrated by Mark Hannon. Collector’s Edition. Easton Press. Norwalk, 1989.

Baroness Karen Blixen, better known today by her pen name Isak Dinesen, was a Danish author who received major critical and commercial acclaim in the first half of the twentieth century. Her short fiction was widely regarded as some of the best from the era, yet her most lasting contribution has certainly been her memoir, Out of Africa. It describes her many years living in Kenya as a colonial landowner. It is a complicated text, one rich in its prose and descriptions of the lives of colonizers and Africans, but one sympathetic to colonial rule and somewhat lamenting of its attrition. There is also a genuine love for the land imbued in its descriptions, and genuine sympathy for the African cultures surrounding Blixen’s social sphere, but also a naivety of race relations, power dynamics, and economic disparities. Still, the work provides a major window into the era. It is one of the most significant memoirs of the twentieth century and one of the best works set in early twentieth century Africa.

This collector’s edition is in very good condition. In the original brown leather, elaborately gilt stamped, very good with some bumping and close tears to bottom corners. Text block very good, only minor bumping to gilt edges and bookplate to front pastedown. Silk moire endpapers and bookmark sewn in.

A very good collector’s copy of Out of Africa.