The Bridge on the Drina

London: Allen & Unwin, 1959. First Edition. Hard Cover. Dust Jacket. Signed by Author. (London: George Allen & Unwin 1959). First UK Edition. Originally published in Belgrade in 1945. SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR - A NOBEL PRIZE-WINNER - IN THE YEAR OF PUBLICATION. Translated from the Serbo-Croat by Lovett F. Edwards. 314 pages + 6 page Publisher's Catalogue to the rear. Publisher's forest-green boards with orange lettering to the spine. Green top-edge. Boards exceptionally bright and clean. Clean interior. No inscriptions. Offsetting to both sets of end-papers otherwise a near fine copy. The near fine dustwrapper is complete and priced 18s net to the inside flap (as called for). Apart from the lightest of rubbing at the spine tips this is almost a fine example with no tears, wear or pieces missing. SIGNED & INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR TO THE HALF-TITLE: "I. Andric/ London, 1959". "The Bridge on the Drina earned the Yugoslavian author Ivo Andric (1892-1975) the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1961. "A vivid depiction of the suffering history has imposed upon the people of Bosnia from the late sixteenth century to the beginning of World War....The story spans about four centuries and covers the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian occupations of the region, with a particular emphasis on the lives, destinies and relations of the local inhabitants, especially Serbs and Bosnian Muslims" (GoodReads). A masterpiece. NB: Signed First Editions by this Nobel prize-winning author are especially uncommon. At the time of listing we can find only one other Ivo Andric signed first edition on the www. NB: Some 50 years after Andric was awarded the Nobel Prize, it was revealed he was up against and selected over J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Frost, John Steinbeck and E.M. Forster. Scarce with these attributes and a rare find indeed. One of the best-known novels by the Yugoslavian Nobel Laureate. Photographs/scans available upon request.