H. SIENKIEWICZ - Quo vadis. Vol. 1-3. 1896. first edition.

SIENKIEWICZ Henryk - Quo vadis. A novel from the time of Nero. Vol. 1-3. Warsaw 1896. gebethner and Wolff. 16d, pp. [4], 309; [4], 253; [4], [4], 345. o.b. fl. stamped.
Spine edges lightly scuffed, plywood in vol. 1 glued in spine, small folds in lower margin of two pages in vol. 3. First edition of one of Sienkiewicz's most famous novels. The writer worked on the novel in 1894-1896. The first edition was published in episodes almost simultaneously in "Gazeta Polska", "Czas" and "Dziennik Poznański" from the end of March 1895 to the turn of February/ March of the following year. The work was immediately very popular, and in a short time became known in the West as well, thanks to numerous summaries and translations that followed quickly. According to Wikipedia, the novel "has been translated into 57 languages, including Arabic, Japanese, and Esperanto, and published in more than 70 countries." "Quo vadis" is one of Sienkiewicz's most popular works, and although the jury in 1905 awarded the writer the Nobel Prize for Literature "for outstanding writing achievements in epic literature," one can often find the claim that he was so highly honored just for the novel presented here.