The Life of the Ant by Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck - 1930: Translator: Bernard Miall

The hardbound thick cloth teal boards with gold debossed pattern to the center, are in excellent condition with only slight cosmetic blemishes. The spine is also free of wear but is sun faded to a pale tan with the black text still very readable. Corners remain sharp with no wear and no bumping. Spine is straight and hinges are strong. Text block is solid with deckled pages, a stain to the top edge has left small blue stains at the top of some pages (top edge would have been blue but is now sun faded). Age tanning throughout. Two previous owner names on front free endpaper. All interior pages are clean with no tears, cracks, or other previous owner marks. 282 pages including the bibliography. Dimensions: H – 7-3/4" W – 5-1/4"

Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (1862 – 1949) was a Belgian playwright, poet, essayist, and author who was Flemish but wrote in French. Although he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1911 and his plays form an important part of the Symbolist movement, later in life he faced credible accusations of plagiarism. In 1926 Maeterlinck published (translated into English) "The Life of Termites or the Life of White Ants", an entomological book that plagiarized the book "The Soul of the (White) Ant, by Afrikaner poet and scientist Eugene Marais. This book has remained in print for many years with "cheap editions" also published.