Banned books - Ouvrages censurés Keywords

Celebrated poetical tamizdat

Rekviem [Requiem]

£750

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Rekviem

First edition of one of Akhmatova's greatest works.. An important tamizdat of one of the best Russian poets; one of 500 copies only.

Image for N.A. BUTMI. Tainyia obshchestva i Iudei. First edition, Shanghai, 1934. #2

Russian fascist printing in Shanghai

BUTMI, N.A

Tainyia Obshchestva i Iudei [Secret Societies and the Jews]

£475

BUTMI, N.A, Tainyia Obshchestva i Iudei

Rare booklet of 'great Russian patriotism', covering one of the favorite themes of a part of the émigré community. Printed in China by Russians with Nazi sympathies.

Image for GORCHAKOV. Sionskie protokoly. Paris, 1927. #2

One of the most famous and enduring conspiracy theories

[GORCHAKOV, M.K., Prince (publisher)]

Sionskie protokoly [The Protocols of Zion]

£650

[GORCHAKOV, M.K., Prince (publisher)], Sionskie protokoly

Paris edition of these famous 'protocols', here with its cover showing a "forbidden" photography of the "Jewish government in Russia", with Trotsky and Sverdlov in the front row.

Image for V. SIRIN [NABOKOV]. Korol, Dama, Valet. First edition, Berlin, 1928. #2

A "bright brute [with an] elaborate and rapturous composition" (Nabokov) - in the original wrappers

SIRIN, V. [pseud. for Vladimir NABOKOV]

Korol, Dama, Valet [King, Queen, Knave]

£2,750

SIRIN, V. [pseud. for Vladimir NABOKOV], Korol, Dama, Valet

Early Nabokov: a pleasant example of the novel's first edition.

Image for BULGAKOV, M. Master i Margarita, first edition. Paris, 1967. #2

First edition of one of the greatest Russian novels

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

Master i Margarita [Master and Margarita]

£5,500

BULGAKOV, Mikhail, Master i Margarita

Pleasant example, in the original wrappers, of the first edition of this amazing novel, one of the best ever written in Russia. Banned in Soviet Union.

Image for A. AKHMATOVA. Chetki, Belaia Staia, Anno Domini. 3 volumes, 1923. #2

The whole series: Akhmatova's first 'collected works'

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Chetki [with] Belaia staia [with] Anno Domini [Beads [with] White Flock [with] Anno Domini]

£950

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Chetki [with] Belaia staia [with] Anno Domini

Most of Akhmatova's pre-1923 poetry in three matching volumes, including some new publications. Rarely found together in satisfying condition without restoration. With continuous bibliophile provenance and poems added in manuscript.

Image for A. AKHMATOVA. Anno Domini. Peterburg, 1923. #2

First appearance of new poems

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Anno Domini

£125

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Anno Domini

Akhmatova's poetry during the Civil War, here in the first expanded edition.

Image for A. AKHMATOVA. Belaia staia. Third edition, Peterburg, 1922. #2

When she was still allowed in Soviet Union

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Belaia staia [White Flock]

£375

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Belaia staia

Fresh example of this uncommon, early edition of Akhmatova's third book.

Image for A. AKHMATOVA. Belaia staia. Berlin & Peterburg, 1923. #2

First time in Berlin

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Belaia staia [White Flock]

£195

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Belaia staia

The third collection of poetry of Russia's great poetess, here in the first edition to be printed abroad.

Image for AKHMATOVA, A. U samogo moria. First edition, 1921. #2

A Black Sea youth

AKHMATOVA, Anna

U samogo moria [At the Edge of the Sea]

£750

AKHMATOVA, Anna, U samogo moria

The first edition of this important autobiographical poem by one of the best Russian poets, and a victim of Soviet censorship.

Image for N. CHERNISHEVSKII. Chto Delat? First book edition, Geneva, 1867. #2

Women's emancipation, Lenin's reshaping, and "the emotional dynamic" of the Russian revolution

CHERNYSHEVSKII, Nikolai

Chto delat? Iz rasskazov o novykh liudiakh [What Is to Be Done? Tales of New People]

£15,000

CHERNYSHEVSKII, Nikolai, Chto delat? Iz rasskazov o novykh liudiakh

First book edition of this groundbreaking novel, a cornerstone of Russian literature and, by its influence, political thought. A pleasant example in contemporary binding. Very rare.

Image for L. TOLSTOY and A. SEURON. Nikolai Palkin and other works. 1895-1903. #2

Tolstoy's life and thoughts: a gathering of scarce pamphlets

TOLSTOY, Lev Nikolaevich, Anna SEIRON [SEURON] and Nadezhda ZHIVAGO (artist)

Nikolai Palkin. Rabotnik Emelian i pustoi baraban. Dorogo Stoit [BOUND WITH:] Shest let v dome grafa Lva Nikolaievicha Tolstogo [AND WITH:] Assiriiskii tsar Assarkhadon. Tri voprosa [Nikolai "The Beater". Emelian the Worker and the Empty Drum. Too Dear! [BOUND WITH:] Six Years at the Household of the Count Tolstoy [BOUND WITH:] The Assyrian King Assarkhadon. Three questions]

£1,500

TOLSTOY, Lev Nikolaevich, Anna SEIRON [SEURON] and Nadezhda ZHIVAGO (artist), Nikolai Palkin. Rabotnik Emelian i pustoi baraban. Dorogo Stoit [BOUND WITH:] Shest let v dome grafa Lva Nikolaievicha Tolstogo [AND WITH:] Assiriiskii tsar Assarkhadon. Tri voprosa

Banned works, illustrated tales, and memoirs of his household: a fine group of works by and about Tolstoy, most in first editions in Russian.

Image for E. BISSINGER. Tainy masonstva. First Russian edition, Bruxelles, 1930s #2

Published in Brussels

BISSINGER, Edgar

Tainy masonstva [The Secrets of Freemasonry]

£325

BISSINGER, Edgar, Tainy masonstva

A striking cover design for this first Russian edition of a Nazi pamphlet translated for the Russian fascists.

Image for J. WICHSELL. Description of Russia in Swedish. First edition, Stockholm, 1706. #2

A censored work - in amazing condition

[WICHSELL, Jöran]

Beskrifning om Rysslands Belägenhet/ Gräntzor/ Landskaper/ Städer/ Styrelse/ Macht/ Plägseder och andra Beskaffenheter nu för tijden

£2,950

[WICHSELL, Jöran], Beskrifning om Rysslands Belägenhet/ Gräntzor/ Landskaper/ Städer/ Styrelse/ Macht/ Plägseder och andra Beskaffenheter nu för tijden

An exceptionnal example, uncut, unopened and unbound, of a banned and later destroyed account of Peter the Great's Russia. First edition, rare.

Image for SHULGIN, V. On Antisemitism in Russia; first edition, Paris, 1929. #2

Ethnic responsibility?

SHULGIN, Vasilii

'Chto nam v nikh ne nravitsia...' Ob Antisemitizme v Rossii ['What We Do Not Like About Them...' On the Antisemitism in Russia]

£375

SHULGIN, Vasilii, 'Chto nam v nikh ne nravitsia...' Ob Antisemitizme v Rossii

"Political anti-Semitism', to be distinguished from a racial one: first edition of this scarce work, which also gives an account of the situation of the Jews in Russia.

Image for COLLINS, S. Estat présent de la Russie. Edition originale en français, Paris, 1679. #2

Account of 17th-c. Russia from a 'cabinet de lecture'

[COLLINS, Samuel]

Relation curieuse de l'estat present de la Russie

£2,000

[COLLINS, Samuel], Relation curieuse de l'estat present de la Russie

Great (if often negative) early account of pre-petrine Russia, here in an unusual, uncut copy of the first French edition, from a private lending library with the label detailing its lending conditions. Includes the famous illustrated chapter on mushrooms - among many other remarks and anecdotes.