Books and magazines are no longer published in bound form; readers no longer need a good paper cutter before they start reading. This spares authors the bitter experience of one day seeing, in a used bookstore, the book they once gave to someone with a warm dedication, its pages still uncut.

In August 1944, Sikelianos’s masterpiece Mater Dei was published in a bilingual edition of 500 numbered copies, edited and illustrated with woodcuts by Spyros Vassiliou: Angelos Sikelianos, Mother of God/Mater Dei, Greek text with translation and introduction by Robert Levesque, “Alpha” Publications, I. Skazikis. Robert Levesque (1909–1975), who did not know Greek, translated the difficult poem with the help of Takis Papatsonis (and others). The EBE certainly has copies of this beautiful edition available.

Levesque sent a copy of the publication to Paul Valéry, with the following undated dedication: “To Mr. Paul Valéry, our incomparable master, Robert Levesque.” A copy of the same edition was also given to Paul Éluard while he was in Greece, with a handwritten, dated dedication by Sikélianos himself: To Paul Éluard, to our Friendship, whose dual task is like the double-edged blade of a single sword, Angelos Sikelianos, May 31, 1946. This is followed by Robert Levesque’s signature. For the dual nature of their friendship, see “[Address to Paul Éluard],” by Angelos Sikelianos, Prose, Vol. 5, edited by G. P. Savvidis, Ikaros, 1985, pp. 110–112.

These two copies now belong to the collections of the National Library of Greece, thanks to the generous donation of Leda Kontogiannopoulou and N. P. Paissios.

In both of the donated copies, the pages were left unbound!

Readers can view the books here 

It goes without saying that the pages of these copies must remain intact, notes Stavros Zouboulakis, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the National Library of Greece, in his memo.