20th century: Dissidence & Emigre
GERTSEN, Aleksandr Ivanovich [Alexander HERZEN].
Byloe i dumy: Pervoe polnoe izdanie [My Past and Thoughts: First complete edition].
First complete edition of Herzen's main work and "great historical classic" (Sviatopolk-Mirskii). Scarce: we could not trace any example at auction in or outside Russia in recent decades. Read more
Read MoreTravels & History: Russia, Siberia, Asia and Pacific
Photographic Views of Arkhangelsk and its Region.
A lovely group of photographs, showing Northern indigenous peoples and local trades by one of the main photographers of the Russian North.
Read MoreFine copy of the first edition in book form, one of 3,000 copies. This long poem, written in 1914, first appeared in the magazine Apollon in 1915, and represents a summing-up of Akhmatova's early manner.
Read MorePerforming Arts: Theatre, Dance, Cinema
Autograph letter to "cher Directeur" [Jacques Hébertot].
A two-page letter, beautifully signed, where Diaghilev is chasing a significant amount of money due by the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. 38,524 francs is the amount Diaghilev is expecting following a charity gala, where his Ballets Russes performed
Read More20th century: Avant-Garde
CHAGALL, Marc (artist) and Der NISTER [pseud. for Pinchus KAHANOVICH].
A Mayse mit a Hon; Dos Tsigele [A Story About a Rooster [and] The Little Kid].
The birth of a rich book-illustrating career: Chagall's first book, showing 9 full-page illustrations, and the only children's book to be illustrated by the great modern artist.
Read MoreChildren, Education, Languages
Rossiiskii, s nemetskim i frantsuzskim perevodami, slovar. [Russian Dictionary, with German and French Translations]
A great glance at the Russian language under Catherine the Great: more than mere translations, this thick dictionary gives German and French explanations to a wealth of Russian words and expressions.
Read More20th century: Dissidence & Emigre
Na putiakh k dvortsovomu perevorotu (zagovory pered revoliutsii 1917 goda) [On the Paths Towards a Palace Coup (plots ahead of the 1917 Revolution)].
First edition of this historical analysis of the secret plots and intrigues swirling around the Imperial regime in the lead up to 1917.
Read MoreFirst edition of one of Akhmatova's most famous works. One of 500 copies only. Written between 1935 and 1940, 'Requiem' was not published in Russia until 1987.
Read More20th century: Dissidence & Emigre
SKITALETS [pseud. of Stepan Gavrilovich PETROV].
O znamenitykh russkikh liudiakh [On Famous Russian People].
A very rare Japanese imprint. We are not aware of any other example having been on the market, and we could locate only two copies of this first edition in public institutions worldwide
Read MoreFirst edition of this important collection of stories on Soviet labour camps, which Shalamov (1907-82), a poet and man of letters on the wrong side of the Soviet authorities
Read MoreLiterature: European languages
Les Fables d'Esope Phrygien, avec Celles de Philelphe.
Russian imperial example of an uncommon illustrated edition of Aesop's fables, in red morocco with Tsarina Maria Feodorovna's gilt arms. Attractively illustrated edition of Bellegarde's compilation of fables by Aesop, Philelphus, Gabrias, and Avienus, first published in Amsterdam in 1708. Read more
Read MoreLiterature: Russian and neighbours
PUSHKIN, Aleksandr Sergeevich, Sergey LIFAR and Prof. M. L. GOFMAN (editors).
[Journey to Arzrum during the campaign of 1829].
Fine copy of this private production, from the very rare issue of 50 copies only, each one bearing the printed name of the recipient, this one from the 30 copies on papier de Hollande, after 20 on Japon. Another issue was limited to 200 copies, without specific recipients... Read more
Read MoreCostumes, Fashion & Military
HARDING, E[dward] (publisher) [and William ALEXANDER].
Costume of the Russian Empire. Costume de l'empire russe. Illustrated by upwards of seventy richly coloured engravings. Representé en plus de soixante-dix gravures superbement colorées.
Fine example, attractively bound. The costumes were drawn after Georgi and Mueller, the English text was written by William Alexander, after the main texts available at the time on Russia.
Read More20th century: Dissidence & Emigre
BULGAKOV, Mikhail Afanasyevich.
Zapiski iunogo vracha; Diavoliada and Other Stories [Notes of a Young Doctor; Diaboliad and Other Stories].
Comprising 10 stories first published in 1922-1926. The typescript partially reproduces the first and the only book by Bulgakov to be published in Russia during his lifetime.
Read MoreSUPERB EXAMPLE OF THIS 'MASTERPIECE OF THE RUSSIAN POETIC AVANT-GARDE' (Johnson 25) INSCRIBED BY ILIAZD TO ANDRE SALMON, a talented man of letters, poet and leading art critic.
Read MoreLiterature: European languages
DUPRÉ DE SAINT-MAURE, Jean-Pierre-Émile (editor).
Anthologie russe, suivie de poésies originales.
Pushkin and the Golden Age of Russian poetry come to the West: the very first publication of Russia's celebrated poet in Western Europe in the first anthology of Russian poetry in French.
Read MoreLiterature: Russian and neighbours
DOSTOEVSKY, Fedor Mikhailovich.
Besy [The Devils, sometimes The Possessed or Demons].
One of Dostoevsky's great novels, and the first of his books published by Dostoevsky himself. Besy captures "the full grandeur of Dostoevsky's extraordinary endeavor[ ]"
Read MoreRussian Americana
GLADKII, S.V. and Iu.K. DVORZHITSKII (editors).
S beregov Ameriki: iubileinyi istoricheskii sbornik o-va Russkih morskih ofitserov v Amerike, 1923 – 1938. [From the Shores of America: commemorative historical compendium of the Association of former Russian naval officers in America, 1923 - 1938].
The Russian Navy and the Americas: warmly inscribed by one of the authors to the first Russian submarine commander in the Pacific. "Very rare" (Savine) illustrated émigré publication, with historical folding maps featuring the arctic coast of Russia... Read more
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