Books

Northridge, CA: Lord John Press, 1982. First thus. Fine. A presentation copy, outside of the 299 numbered and 26 lettered copies. Bound in blue marbled boards with navy leather backstrip with gilt tooling and title in gilt on spine. Extremely clean interior, signed by author on half-title. Published first in French in 1981 and translated by the author in the following year, Ill Seen, Ill Said, is a novella capturing the last moments of a dying woman. Beckett combined third person narration with a steam-of-consciousness style to create this poetic mediation on mortality. Herbert Yellin (1935-2014) established his small fine press in Northridge in 1978 to celebrate his favorite modern authors, from poets to science fiction writers. Lord John Press was committed to producing exquisite editions and this copy is a perfect example of that mission. Fine.

Mal Vu Mal Dit, translated as Ill Seen Ill Said, is a novel by Samuel Beckett, first published in French by Les Éditions de Minuit in 1981. The book combines Beckett's sparse and poetic style with a narrative that exists between the realms of the visible and the invisible, playing with the ineffable qualities of experience and memory.

One way to determine a first edition of 'Mal Vu Mal Dit' is to verify it was published by Les Éditions de Minuit in 1981, as it was the book's original publisher. Additional confirmation can come from identifying specific details relative to the first print run such as the ISBN and the total page count.