The Girl Opposite

MILENA MILANI. The Girl Opposite. Venice, Edizioni del Cavallino, December 1953. 8vo, illustrated publisher's wrappers with extraordinary color photographic cover. FIRST EDITION, COPY NUMBER 1 of only 500 numbered, printed under the direction of Carlo Cardazzo. With 6 ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY GIUSEPPE CAPOGROSSI, central figure of Italian abstractionism and the Origine movement. AUTOGRAPH DEDICATION BY THE AUTHOR to her parents, dated Milan 17 April 1954: 'To my dear Mother and my dear Father, with many kisses, Milena' — an intimate document of exceptional rarity. Milena Milani (1917-2013), writer and artist, was a central figure in the Venetian cultural scene of the postwar period, companion of Carlo Cardazzo and protagonist of the 1964 literary scandal with 'The Girl Named Giulio'. Edizioni del Cavallino, founded by Cardazzo in 1942, represents the apex of Italian art publishing. Copy of direct family provenance, preserved with period newspaper clipping.