Without Seeing the Dawn

Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1947. First Edition. First Printing. Octavo (21cm); khaki cloth-covered boards, blocked and titled in green and gilt on spine, and decorations embossed to spine and front cover; dustjacket; [xvi],[3],4-359,[1]pp. Pictorial bookplate to front pastedown. Very slight waviness to lower edge of textblock; two very small nicks on rear endpaper and rear pastedown; Near Fine. Dustjacket, designed by George Salter, unclipped (priced $2.75), shelf-worn, with 1.5" closed tear to rear spine fold, with several tiny chips, small tears, and attendant creases; Very Good.

The Filipino author's only published novel (later (truncated) released under the title The Lost Ones). Javellana's experience as a guerrilla during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines is evident in his two-part novel ("Day" and "Night") describing events before and during the war. He focuses on the struggle of his people through farmer folk characters, feeling that was "...the most sincere, most accurate, and most moving story about the Philippines would be the story of those who dug their plows into the rich earth and prayed for the coming of rain and whose sons were with the guerrillas" (from rear panel).

A film adaptation, Santiago!, was directed by Filipino director Lino Brocka (1939-1991), who co-founded the Free the Artist Movement and the Concerned Artists for Phillipines (CAP); he was appointed by President Corazon Aquino for Constitutional Commission to draft the country's new constitituion. Without Seeing the Dawn also received an award-winning TV mini-series adaptation, Malayo Pa Ang Umaga. [82279]. (Inventory #: 82279)