Casanova’s Homecoming (1947), illustrated by Rockwell Kent and published by The Sylvan Press, is a visually arresting edition of Arthur Schnitzler’s psychologically charged 1918 novella Casanovas Heimfahrt. This edition marries Schnitzler’s tale of the aging libertine Giacomo Casanova—whose final seduction becomes a meditation on vanity and mortality—with Kent’s bold, woodcut-inspired illustrations that amplify the story’s tension between desire and decay.
Kent’s stark black-and-white engravings, rendered with his signature angular precision, depict pivotal moments: Casanova’s moonlit gondola journey through Venice, his encounter with the young couple Marcolina and Olivo in the countryside, and the climactic confrontation that lays bare the futility of his lifelong pursuit of conquest. The artwork’s dramatic contrasts and almost cubist distortions mirror Schnitzler’s Freudian exploration of obsession and the passage of time.
For collectors of Kent’s work, this edition complements his iconic Moby-Dick (1930) engravings or his Candide (1928) illustrations, showcasing his ability to distill complex narratives into powerful visual metaphors.
