Claire de Durfort; Claire de Duras; John Fowles — Ourika

Austin, W. Thomas Taylor, 1977. Leather. A fine limited edition of the important French novel 'Ourika', this striking edition translated and signed by John Fowles. Signed by the translator, John Fowles, to page 64.A limited edition of five hundred copies.'Ourika' is an 1823 novel by Claire de Duras, based on the life of a woman who was purchased as a child, and given as a gift to a prominent family. Duras' work marked a critical point in European literature, with this novel being the first French text to depict a black woman as a character with complex psychology. It still reminds a striking commentary on race, set in the days before, during, and after the French Revolution.This limited edition was translated by John Fowles. 'Ourika' inspired him to write 'The French Lieutenant's Woman&apos.Originally written in French by Claire de Duras, or Claire de Durfort. In the original publisher's quarter morocco binding with marbled paper to the boards. Externally, fine. Spine is very lightly faded. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are bright and clean. Fine . Ill.: None. Fine .