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 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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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SVITKOV, Nikolai [pseud. for Nikolai STEPANOV].
Masonstvo v Russkoi Emigratsii [Freemasonry in Russian emigration].
Rare second edition of Svitkov's main work on freemasonry, where he details the development of modern Russian Masonic lodges outside of Russia since 1920, adding a list of Russian Freemasons as of January 1, 1932 (to which he even includes Vladimir Ulianov-Lenin). It follows the first edition printed in Paris 32 years earlier, and a third, very similar edition was published by the same company in 1966. This second edition was augmented with a preface by V. Merzheevskii, a contribution by the Chairman of the Council of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, bishop Antonii, and Svitkov's article "Voennaia lozha" [Military lodge], published earlier in 1955 in Vladimirskii vestnik periodical. Read more
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SOLZHENITSYN, Aleksandr Isaevich.
Odin den Ivana Denisovich [One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich].
The rare first edition of Solzhenitsyn's first published book; a celebrated "pirate" edition published abroad without the author's consent.
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Posle Rossii. 1922-1925 [After Russia. 1922-1925].
First edition of Tsvetaeva's last book of poems, one of her major works, banned in the USSR; a lovely example, in original wrappers, one of 500 only, including 100 not for sale.
Read MoreFirst Feltrinelli edition in Russian (the third overall), first printing, issued in the very attractive and distinctive dust jacket designed by Ampelio Tettamanti (1914-1961), matching that of the first edition in Italian
Read MoreFirst edition: an anthology of poetry, including pieces by Solovyov, Blok, Bely, Voloshin, Gorodetskii, Gumilev, Viacheslav Ivanov, Kuzmin, and Tsvetaeva.
Read MoreFirst appearance in print of this short story, originally indended to be included in the "Diaboliad". In her discussion of "Khanskii ogon", Haber detects a distinct pessimism in Bulgakov's account of Prince Tugai-Beg
Read MoreFirst edition of the first book by one of Russia's greatest 20th-century poets. The thin book is in itself a symbol of the pre-revolutionary Russia
Read MoreThe true first Russian edition of the celebrated and accidentally controversial novel by the great Russian Silver Age poet, a piracy created with close involvement of the CIA.
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