Kristin Lavransdatter: The Bridal Wreath, The Mistress of Husaby, The Cross.

UNDSET, Sigrid.

Item Number: 126337

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1937.

Early printing of the work responsible for Undset’s award of the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded to her “principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages.” Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “Inscribed for Perry B. Lamson Sigrid Undset.” The recipient, Perry B. Lamson served as a Colonel in the United States Army in both WWII and Korea. Near fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Exceptionally rare signed and in the very attractive original dust jacket.

A trilogy of historical novels written by Nobel laureate Sigrid Undset, Kristin Lavransdatter is comprised of Kransen (The Wreath), first published in 1920, Husfrue (The Wife), published in 1921, and Korset (The Cross), published in 1922. Kransen and Husfrue were translated from the original Norwegian as The Bridal Wreath and The Mistress of Husaby, respectively, in the first English translation by Charles Archer and J. S. Scott. This work formed the basis of Undset receiving the 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded to her "principally for her powerful descriptions of Northern life during the Middle Ages". Her work is much admired for its historical and ethnological accuracy.