870.00€
An exceptionally interesting and historically significant association copy of Jean Psichari’s Un pays qui ne veut pas de sa langue, published in Paris by Mercure de France in 1928.
The volume is accompanied by a one-page autograph letter by Psichari addressed to Konstantinos “Koko” Melas (1874–1953), a prominent Greek naval officer, politician and early leader of the Greek Scout movement.
This combination of Psichari’s important late linguistic manifesto + an original autograph letter to a prominent member of the Melas family + the recipient’s personal copy makes this a particularly desirable item for collectors of Greek literary history, linguistics, autograph material, and the history of the Greek language question.
The University of Crete’s Digital Library records the work as an offprint from Mercure de France, published in Paris in 1928, comprising 63 pages. The essay originally appeared in the October 1928 issue of Mercure de France, pp. 63–121.
Jean Psichari (Ioannis Psycharis 1854–1929) was a Greek-born French philologist, linguist and writer, born in Odessa to a Greek family originating from Chios.
He became one of the most influential intellectual advocates of Demotic Greek, the living spoken language, during the bitterly contested Greek Language Question.
Psichari taught modern Greek at the École pratique des hautes études and later at the École des langues orientales in Paris. His scholarship and literary work were devoted to demonstrating the legitimacy and expressive power of modern spoken Greek.
His Το ταξίδι μου (My Journey, 1888) became a landmark of the Demotic movement, while his grammatical and philological studies attempted to establish a systematic scholarly foundation for modern Greek.
The provocative title translates approximately as:
“A Country That Does Not Want Its Own Language.”
Published in 1928, the essay represents one of Psichari’s important late statements on the Greek language question. He attacks the continued preference for Katharevousa, the artificial, archaizing form of Greek associated with the conservative political and educational establishment, and argues passionately for recognition of the living language of the Greek people.
The work appeared during the final year of Psichari’s academic career: he left his position at the École pratique des hautes études in 1928 and died in Paris in September 1929.
The most important feature of this copy is the original handwritten letter by Jean Psichari to Konstantinos “Koko” Melas, preserved with the book.
The letter is written in French and is addressed affectionately to “Coco Melas.”
Psichari expresses his affection for the Melas family and their cause, tells Melas that he is sending him the book, and writes warmly of how much he misses the members of the family.
Most remarkably, Psichari expresses his confidence in Melas’s future and tells him that he believes he will one day become President.
Melas did not ultimately become President of Greece, but the passage is a fascinating contemporary expression of the esteem in which he was held.
Psichari also discusses his forthcoming grammatical work, announcing his intention to publish a three-volume grammar, with two volumes intended for teachers and one for students.
This makes the letter particularly valuable: it provides a rare firsthand glimpse into Psichari’s scholarly plans during the final months of his life, when he was still attempting to systematize and strengthen the academic foundations of Demotic Greek.
The recipient was Konstantinos M. Melas (1874–1953), born in Marseille and a member of the prominent Melas family.
He graduated from the Greek Naval Academy and served as an officer of the Royal Hellenic Navy, participating in the Greco-Turkish War of 1897 and the Balkan Wars. He later entered politics and served as a Member of Parliament. The Greek Archives and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens both document his military and political career.
Melas was also one of the important early figures in Greek Scouting and served as General Commissioner of the Greek Scouts.
He was the brother of Pavlos Melas (1870–1904), the celebrated figure of the Macedonian Struggle.
The family connection makes Psichari’s warm references to the “Melades” and their cause especially interesting. The Melas family occupied an important position within the political, military and cultural elite of modern Greece.
The historical importance of Konstantinos Melas is further underlined by the existence of the Konstantinos M. Melas Papers at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, a collection containing correspondence and other documents connected with the Melas and Chorafa families.
The original Mercure de France offprint was issued in soft wrappers.
In this copy, a later binder has preserved part of the original printed wrapper/title material and incorporated it into the binding. The original material bearing the handwritten inscription has consequently been retained inside the volume, preserving the association with Psichari and Melas.
The volume is now bound in an attractive contemporary half-leather binding, with a dark leather spine and marbled boards.
A handwritten date “1-8-1928” is also visible on the title material.
Author: Jean Psichari (Jean Psychari / Γιάννης Ψυχάρης), 1854–1929
Title: Un pays qui ne veut pas de sa langue
Publisher: Mercure de France
Place: Paris
Year: 1928
Publication: Offprint from Mercure de France
Language: French
Extent: 64 pages in this copy
Format: approximately 22 cm × 14.5 cm
Binding: Half-leather with marbled boards
Special feature: Original autograph letter by Jean Psichari to Konstantinos “Koko” Melas
Association: Psichari – Melas family
The University of Crete catalogue records the standard offprint as 63 pages and 23 cm, while the Mercure de France bibliographical record gives the original article as pages 63–121. The slight difference in pagination/physical dimensions is normal among separately preserved offprints and should not be treated as a defect.
Very good antiquarian condition.
The text is clean and fully legible, with only light age-toning and occasional minor foxing.
The binding is sound and attractive, with normal signs of age and handling.
The exceptional manuscript material has been preserved with the volume.
Please examine the photographs carefully, as they form an integral part of the description.
This is far more than an ordinary copy of a scarce 1928 linguistic pamphlet.
It brings together:
Jean Psichari – one of the principal intellectual architects of the Demotic movement;
The Greek Language Question – one of the defining cultural and political debates of modern Greece;
Konstantinos “Koko” Melas – naval officer, politician and prominent member of the Melas family;
The Melas family – one of the important families of modern Greek political and national history;
and an original autograph letter written by Psichari during the final year of his life.
The letter’s discussion of Psichari’s projected three-volume grammar is particularly significant in the context of his lifelong attempt to establish Demotic Greek as a legitimate object of systematic linguistic and educational study.
An exceptional piece of Greek intellectual history, autograph collecting and linguistic history, with a remarkable personal association between two figures from very different but interconnected worlds of Greek culture.
The accompanying 1943 booklet adds a particularly interesting dimension to this association copy. An unbound 16-page monograph measuring approximately 17.5 × 12.5 cm, it constitutes the 6th standalone issue (6ον Τεύχος Αυτοτελές) of the Πάνθεον Ελλήνων Συγγραφέων (Pantheon of Greek Writers), a series forming part of the broader Ελληνική Φιλολογική Εγκυκλοπαίδεια (Greek Philological Encyclopedia). This issue is devoted entirely to Jean Psichari, offering a biographical and critical study of his life and work. The preceding issues were dedicated to Dionysios Solomos, Konstantinos Kavafis, Theotokis, Kostis Palamas, and Andreas Laskaratos, placing Psichari within a carefully selected pantheon of major figures of modern Greek letters. The wider project brought together contributions from leading Greek writers and intellectuals, including G. Xenopoulos, Spyros Melas, and Stratis Myrivilis. Published in Athens in 1943, during the Axis Occupation of Greece, the booklet is also a small but evocative document of the persistence of Greek literary and intellectual culture during one of the country’s darkest periods. Together with Psichari’s 1928 work and his autograph letter of December 1928, it creates a remarkable chronological and intellectual record spanning the final years of Psichari’s life and his subsequent reception in wartime Greece.
