Banned books - Ouvrages censurés Keywords| Page 3 of 5

Image for SHALAMOV, V. Kolymskie rasskazy. First edition, 1978. #1

With provenance

SHALAMOV, Varlam Tikhonovich

[Kolyma Stories] Kolymskie rasskazy

£1,250

SHALAMOV, Varlam Tikhonovich, [Kolyma Stories]

First edition of this classic of "GULAG literature", with literary provenance.

Tolstoy the playwright

TOLSTOY, Lev

Pervyi vinokur ili kak chertenok kraiushku zasluzhil. Komediia [The First Distiller, or How the Little Devil Earned his Crust. A Comedy]

£1,750

TOLSTOY, Lev, Pervyi vinokur ili kak chertenok kraiushku zasluzhil. Komediia

First edition of Tolstoy's successful play on wine and some of its effects... Lovely example in wrappers. Scarce.

Image for Bulgakov, Heart of Dog, first Russian book edition, Paris, YMCA, 1969. #2

U-u-u-u-u-u... in first edition

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

Sobache serdtse [Heart of a Dog]

£1,450

BULGAKOV, Mikhail, Sobache serdtse

Uncommon first book edition in Russian of Bulgakov's suppressed satirical masterpiece. A lovely copy in its original wrappers by Annenkov.

Image for BURTSEV, Tsar i vneshniaia politika, Russo-Japanese War, Berlin, 1910. #1

Another war which went wrong...

BURTSEV, Vladimir Lvovich

Tsar i vneshniaia politika. Vinovniki russko-iaponskoi voiny [The Tsar and Foreign Affairs. The Culprits of the Russo-Japanese War]

£65

BURTSEV, Vladimir Lvovich, Tsar i vneshniaia politika. Vinovniki russko-iaponskoi voiny

Great denunciation of the catastrophy for Russia of the war against Japan. A pre-revolutionary publication banned in tsarist Russia.

Image for Fletcher, Of the Russe Commonwealth, first Russian book edition, very rare. Geneva, Kasatkin, 1867. #1

Banned Russian edition of a banned English book

FLETCHER, Dzhails [Giles]

O gosudarstve russkom, ili Obraz pravleniia russkago tsaria (obyknovenno nazyvaemago tsarem moskovskim). S opisaniiem nravov i obychaev zhitelei etoi strany [Of the Rvsse Common Wealth: Of the Russian State, or the Manner of Government of the Russian Emperor]

£6,750

FLETCHER, Dzhails [Giles], O gosudarstve russkom, ili Obraz pravleniia russkago tsaria (obyknovenno nazyvaemago tsarem moskovskim). S opisaniiem nravov i obychaev zhitelei etoi strany

First Russian book edition -banned- of Fletcher's famous -and banned- description of Russia which first appeared in 1591. A very rare edition, printed in Geneva by Russian revolutionaries, in a fine, fresh example.

Image for Akhmatova, Brodsky and others, Important poems and other texts, incl. Poem bez geroia [Poem Without a Hero], first editions. #1

The Pantheon of the Silver Age - a complete set

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Isaac BABEL, Iosif BRODSKII, Osip MANDELSHTAM, Vladimir NABOKOV, Boris PASTERNAK, Marina TSVETAEVA et al

Vozdushnye Puti [Airways. Almanach. Vols I-V]

£1,500

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Isaac BABEL, Iosif BRODSKII, Osip MANDELSHTAM, Vladimir NABOKOV, Boris PASTERNAK, Marina TSVETAEVA et al, Vozdushnye Puti

The first publication of Akhmatova's 'Poem Without a Hero' [Poem bez geroia] - as well as many other works by some of the best Russian poets and authors of the 20th century: a complete set of this important literary almanac, rare so.

Image for Bulgakov, Heart of a Dog, first publication in Russian, Flegon, 1968. #1

U-u-u-u-u-u....: the first publication

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

Sobache serdtse [Heart of a Dog].

£1,000

BULGAKOV, Mikhail, Sobache serdtse

First publication in Russian of Bulgakov's suppressed satirical masterpiece, banned in Soviet Union until 20 years later.

Image for Akhmatova, typed letter signed by her, 1962 #2

The great Russian poetess lists her Russian publications

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Typed letter signed ('Anna Akhmatova') to Boris Tarasov ('Dear Boris Aleksandrovich')

£2,750

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Typed letter signed ('Anna Akhmatova') to Boris Tarasov ('Dear Boris Aleksandrovich')

Fine book-related letter signed by Akhmatova, one of Russia's greatest poets, where she lists her recent publications in Russia, after a difficult period of hard censorship.

Image for BELZEN, Geroi Smutnogo Vremeni, album of Russian caricatures of the Civil War, Berlin, 1921. #2

Large political caricatures of a troubled year

BELZEN, Ia. Ia. (artist)

Geroi Smutnogo Vremeni [Heroes of Troubled Times]

£1,950

BELZEN, Ia. Ia. (artist), Geroi Smutnogo Vremeni

Very rare album of full-page satirical illustrations of the situation in Russia during the turbulent years of the Civil War. Published in Berlin in 1921, and particularly remarkbale for its even-handed swipe at all participants in the War. Only three copies traced in Western public institutions.

Image for SOLZHENITSYN, Odin den Ivana Denisovicha, London, 1962. First edition. #1

In striking wrappers

SOLZHENITSYN, Aleksandr Isaevich

Odin den Ivana Denisovicha [One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]

£2,500

SOLZHENITSYN, Aleksandr Isaevich, Odin den Ivana Denisovicha

First edition of the celebrated author's first book § a famous 'pirate' edition published without Solzhenitsyn's consent. A very good copy, with the striking original wrappers.

Image for AKHMATOVA. Poema bez geroia. Samizdat in unusual binding. c. 1968. #2

Out of stock

SOLD

Great Akhmatova's memorabilia

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Poema bez Geroia. Triptikh. 1940-1962. Leningrad-Tashkent-Moskva [Poem Without a Hero. Triptych. 1940-1962. Leningrad-Tashkent-Moscow]

AKHMATOVA, Anna, Poema bez Geroia. Triptikh. 1940-1962. Leningrad-Tashkent-Moskva

An interesting and very unusual item: a samizdat copy of Akhmatova's masterpiece, bound in the poetess' dress, with a lengthy inscription detailing part of the provenance.

Image for M. BULGAKOV. Adam & Eva. First version, samizdat, 1960s-70s. #2

Out of stock

SOLD

Never published in his lifetime

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

Adam i Eva. Piesa v 4 aktakh [Adam and Eve. A play in 4 acts]

BULGAKOV, Mikhail, Adam i Eva. Piesa v 4 aktakh

The very first, Bulgakov's own version of his dystopian play, here in an attractive, unusual samizdat.

Image for GROSSMAN, V. Vse techet. Posev, 1974 #2

Out of stock

SOLD

"A bitter indictment of the Soviet system" (Terras)

GROSSMAN, Vasilii

Vse techet [Everything flows]

GROSSMAN, Vasilii, Vse techet

Grossman's first novel being published abroad, and banned in Soviet Union until 1989. Pleasant example of this larger format edition.

Image for F. RASKOLNIKOV. Otkrytoe pismo Stalinu. Samizdat, 1960s-70s. #2

Out of stock

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A Soviet ambassador against Stalin

RASKOLNIKOV, Fedor

Otkrytoe pismo Stalinu [An Open Letter to Stalin]

RASKOLNIKOV, Fedor, Otkrytoe pismo Stalinu

Samizdat copy of a sharp criticism of Stalin's regim. Rare and dangerous in the USSR.

Image for BAKHAREV - MAKHNOVETS, V. Kak derzhat sebya na doprosakh. Geneva, 1900; first edition. #2

Out of stock

SOLD

Getting ready...

BAKHAREV V. [pseud. for Vladimir Petrovich MAKHNOVETS]

Kak derzhat sebia na doprosakh [How to Conduct Oneself During Interrogations]

BAKHAREV V. [pseud. for Vladimir Petrovich MAKHNOVETS], Kak derzhat sebia na doprosakh

A practical handbook for revolutionaries caught by the tsarist authorities - pretty unusual theme and rare on the market. Attractive example of the first edition, with provenance.

Image for NABOKOV, Vl. Poetry in samizdat, very rare. 1970s. #3

Out of stock

SOLD

Nabokov the Poet – Home-made and illegal in Russia

NABOKOV, Vladimir

Stikhi [Poetry]

NABOKOV, Vladimir, Stikhi [Poetry]

Some of Nabokov's most scandalous poems, of course banned in Soviet Union and here in an illegal "edition" home-made in Brezhnev's USSR. Very rare.

Image for PUSHKIN & TOMASHEVSKII. Gavriiliada. Peterburg, 1922. #1

Out of stock

SOLD

Pushkin's erotica with erudite comments

PUSHKIN, Aleksandr and Boris TOMASHEVSKII (editor)

Gavriiliada [The Gabrieliad]

PUSHKIN, Aleksandr and Boris TOMASHEVSKII (editor), Gavriiliada

Pushkin's most famous censored work, here in a lovely and important scholarly edition, finely produced.

Image for TSVETAEVA, Lebedinyi Stan, first edition. Munich, 1957. #2

Out of stock

SOLD

The unpublishable finally published

TSVETAEVA, Marina Ivanovna

Lebedinyi stan [A Swans' Wedge. Poems from 1917-1921]

TSVETAEVA, Marina Ivanovna, Lebedinyi stan

First edition of this important cycle about the Revolution and the Civil War, impossible to publish in the USSR and even abroad for several decades. A very good copy.

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