Poltava Leonid.1709: A Historical Novel Set During the Era of Hetman Ivan Mazepa.New York, 1961

Leonid Poltava. Seventeen Hundred Nine (1709): A Historical Novel Set in the Time of Hetman Ivan Mazepa.

New York: Knyhospilka Publishing Co., 1961. — 212, [4] pp. — 20.5 × 14 cm. — © 1961 by Leonid Poltava and Knyhospilka Publishing Co.

In the original publisher’s dust jacket: on a cream background, a dark blue rectangle with the white title “Seventeen Hundred Nine” and the subtitle “A Historical Novel,” with the Knyhospilka logo at the bottom. Noticeable rubbing and darkening along the edges of the dust jacket, yellowing of the text block edges, and small tears along the top edge of the spine; the text block is firm, the text is clean, and there are no inscriptions or stamps. Condition: good.

Published during the author’s lifetime.

INFORMATION

A novel about the year in which Ukrainian history took a fateful turn: Charles XII’s campaign, Mazepa’s defection, the destruction of Baturyn, the Battle of Poltava, and the march to Bendery. Poltava writes not a chronicle, but the destinies of a hetman, the starshyna, and ordinary Cossacks, constructing a narrative that allows the reader to see choices before their consequences unfold.

Leonid Poltava (born Leonid Parkhomovych, 1921–1990) was a poet, prose writer, and radio journalist from the Poltava region who lived in exile from 1944 onward—in Germany, France, Spain, Argentina, and the United States. He worked for many years at Voice of America and Svoboda. He was the author of the Modern Aeneid, children’s books, and several historical novels; he wrote quickly, prolifically, and for a wide range of audiences.

Knyhospilka was a New York publishing company that, from the 1950s onward, published Ukrainian fiction and non-fiction for the diaspora; its publications were distributed by subscription throughout Ukrainian communities in the United States and Canada.