Gesigneerd; Willem Frederik Hermans - Het behouden huis - 1951

Willem Frederik Hermans - Het behouden huis - Amsterdam - De Bezige Bij - 1951 - 1st edition - paperback 21.5 × 13 cm - 68 pp. - cover drawing and illustrations by Mart Kempers - edition of 500 numbered copies - this is no. HC - with dedication and signed - slight discolouration and wear, and some spots on the cover, ex-libris on the half title page, otherwise good.

The preserved house is a novella set in the Second World War (1944). A partisan takes possession of a villa in a luxury resort, somewhere in Central Europe, until a German regiment arrives and billets there. Hermans was awarded a travel grant for the novella and it had 42 editions during his lifetime (JS 72-97 and JS 99-114). Over the years, the novella has provoked many interpretative comments, including publications that are among the best about Hermans' work. ‘Het behouden huis’ is a novella of deceptive simplicity, behind which lies a particularly complex and well-constructed story. (Wikipedia)