Vintage 1977 Soviet Book: French Poets Anthology (Georgian Trans. Givi Gegechkori) | Tsar to Soviet Books

Rare 1977 Soviet Anthology: "Poets of France" (Translated into Georgian by G. Gegechkori)

For collectors of Caucasian publications, translation studies, and classic European verse, this 1977 original Soviet hardcover anthology represents a pinnacle of mid-century Georgian literary publishing. Published in Tbilisi by Nakaduli (გამომცემლობა „ნაკადული“ / Издательство «Накадули»), Poets of France (ფრანგული პოეზია / Поэты Франции) compiles over four centuries of French poetic masterworks, translated into Georgian by the acclaimed poet Givi Gegechkori.

Edited by Gizo Nishnianidze and issued under the auspices of the Writers' Union of Georgia, this 196+ page edition highlights the close literary dialogue between French Symbolism and 20th-century Georgian poetic traditions.

Four Centuries of French Masterworks in Georgian Translation

Gegechkori’s translation choices preserve the precise cadence, rhythm, and lyricism of the original French texts across multiple eras:

• Renaissance & Early Verse: François Villon (including Ballade des dames du temps jadis) and Pierre de Ronsard.

• Romanticism & Parnassian Verse: Alphonse de Lamartine, Gérard de Nerval, Alfred de Musset, Alfred de Vigny, Théophile Gautier, and Victor Hugo.

• Symbolism & Decadence: Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Stéphane Mallarmé, Jules Laforgue, and Guillaume Apollinaire.

• Modernism & Surrealism: Paul Valéry, Max Jacob, Robert Desnos, Paul Éluard, Paul Claudel, Blaise Cendrars, Saint-John Perse, Henri Michaux, and René Char.

Complete Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: ფრანგული პოეზია / Поэты Франции (Poets of France)

• Translator: Givi Gegechkori (გივი გეგეჭკორი)

• Editor-in-Chief: G. Nishnianidze (გ. ნიშნიანიძე)

• Publisher: "Nakaduli" Publishing House (Тбилиси)

• Publication Date: 1977 (Tbilisi, Georgian SSR)

• Language: Georgian

• Binding: Original publisher's hardcover, cloth-backed spine with patterned paper boards

• Print Run / Circulation: 10,000 copies (Тираж 10000)

• Classification: French Literature in Translation / Soviet Poetry Anthologies / Georgian Imprints

Condition & Preservation Report

• Exterior Condition: The decorated hardcover boards are flat, rigid, and clean. Cloth spine is fully intact with sharp extremities.

• Binding Integrity: Firm, square, and tight text block with intact hinges.

• Paper Quality: Interior pages are clean and unmarked, exhibiting uniform light cream age-toning typical of late-1970s Soviet paper stocks. Free from marginal notation, underlining, library stamps, or page creases.