A Grave for a Dolphin

Description:

First edition. Scarce. Jacket design by Val Biro. Duke Alberto Denti di Pirajno (1886-1968) was an Italian doctor and colonial administrator. The material included in this book came from stories he heard while working in Italy's former African colonies of Ethiopia, Italian Somaliland in East Africa, and Libya. It serves as a continuation of his other book A Cure for Serpents (1955).

A Grave for a Dolphin directly inspired David Bowie’s song ‘Heroes’, as documented in Bowie’s foreword to his wife’s memoir, I am Iman, 2001. Most notably the lyrics: “I, I wish you could swim, Like the dolphins, like dolphins can swim” relate to this work. In a recent video interview for Vogue, 2021 Iman stated ‘this book is really special because, funny enough, way before David and I met, this was one of his favorite books. And actually, he told me that some of the lyrics from his song ‘Heroes’ were actually inspired by this book. And then of course, finally when we meet, we can’t believe that we both adore the same book.”

Condition

8vo, orig. cloth. Endpapers partly browned. Some spotting to fore-edge of text block. Vg in d/w (price-clipped; minor edge wear; in removable protective sleeve).