Banned books - Ouvrages censurés | PY Rare Books

Image for BULGAKOV, M. Samizdat of Sobache Serdtse [Heart of a Dog]. #2

Out of stock

Illegally home-made and in superbly fresh condition

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

Sobache Serdtse [Heart of a Dog]

[Russia, 1960s-80s].

Bulgakov's short masterpiece here in 'samizdat' version, ie. typed at home illegally - an unusually fresh example.

Image for G. ORWELL. Kolhosp tvaryn. First Ukrainian edition of Animal Farm. Neu-Ulm, 1947. #2

Out of stock

With the only preface Orwell ever wrote for the work

ORWELL, George and Ivan CHERNIATYNSKYI (transl.; pseud. for Ihor SHEVCHENKO)

Kolhosp tvaryn [Animal Farm: A Fairy Tale]

[Neu-Ulm], Vydavnytstvo "Prometei", [1947].

Pleasant copy, in the pictorial original wrappers, of this celebrated and important edition, the first Ukrainian translation of Orwell's masterpiece.

Image for SOLZHENITSYN. Arkhipelag GULag. First edition, Paris, 1973-75 #2

Out of stock

His masterpiece

SOLZHENITSYN, Aleksandr

Arkhipelag Gulag [The Gulag Archipelago]

Imprimerie Moderne (vol. 1) and Impressions Internationales (vol. 2-3), for YMCA Press, Paris, 1973-75.

First edition of Solzhenitsyn's best work, an extensive account of the Soviet camps.

Image for M. TSVETAEVA. Selected poetry, in original Russian. Samizdat, Russia, after 1965. #2

Out of stock

Home-made volume of famous banned poetry

TSVETAEVA, Marina

[Izbrannoe stikhotvorenie] [Selected Poetry]

[Russia, after 1965].

Poems of Russia's great poetess in a fine samizdat volume, in excellent condition. Based an an edition which contained many newly published poems.

Out of stock

Inscribed first edition

SOLZHENITSYN, Aleksandr Isaevich

Arkhipelag GULAG [The Gulag Archipelago]

Imprimerie Moderne (vol. 1) and Impressions Internationales (vol. 2-3), for YMCA Press, Paris, 1973-75.

First edition of Solzhenitsyn's magnum opus on the prison camp system and his best work, here in a choice copy inscribed to a leading broadcaster for the BBC Russian service in London.

Image for S. COLLINS. Present State of Russia. First edition, London, 1671. #2

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Drunk "very unhandsome" Circassian ladies and Russian mushrooms

[COLLINS, Samuel]

The Present State of Russia, in a Letter to a Friend at London, written by an eminent person residing at the great czars court at Mosco [sic] for the space of nine years

John Winter for Dorman Newman, London, 1671.

Great (if often negative) early account of pre-petrine Russia, with an important portrait of Tsar Alexei and a famous chapter on mushrooms - among many other remarks and anecdotes. Attractive example of the first edition.

Image for B. PASTERNAK. Doktor Zhivago. First pocket edition, Paris, 1959. #2

Out of stock

CIA-produced with a fake French imprint

PASTERNAK, Boris

Doktor Zhivago [Doctor Zhivago]

[Paris], Societe d'Edition et d'Impression Mondiale [SEIM], 1959.

Fine example of this edition, specially made for smuggling into the USSR - one of the early editions of the great novel, which saw light in just a couple of years.

Image for E. ZAMIATIN. Litsa [Faces]. First edition, in Russian. New York, 1955 #2

Out of stock

From the author of 'We'

ZAMIATIN, Evgenii [also ZAMYATIN]

Litsa [Faces]

Chekhov, Niu Iork, 1955.

First edition of these articles and memoirs by one of the great anti-Soviet writers.

Image for GONCHAROV. Kak bylo v staroi Rossii. First edition, California, 1972. #2

Out of stock

Nostalgia of pre-Soviet Russia...

GONCHAROV, I.E

Kak bylo v staroi Rossii [How It Was in Old Russia]

Kaliforniia, 1972.

Another émigré work with a wide variety of texts, articles, memoirs about the good old Russia before the Bolsheviks.

Image for AKHMATOVA, Rekviem, Requiem, first edition, 1963 #2

Out of stock

Celebrated poetical tamizdat

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Rekviem [Requiem]

L. Andrejeff for T-vo Zarubezhnikh izdanii, Miunkhen, 1963.

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 GORCHAKOV. Sionskie protokoly. Paris, 1927. #2

Out of stock

One of the most famous and enduring conspiracy theories

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

Sionskie protokoly [The Protocols of Zion]

Doloi Zlo, Parizh, 1927.

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

Out of stock

First edition of one of the greatest Russian novels

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

Master i Margarita [Master and Margarita]

J. Floch, Mayenne, for YMCA-PRESS, Paris, 1967.

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

Out of stock

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

AKHMATOVA, Anna

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

Zinaburg, Berlin, for Petropolis and Alkonost, Peterburg, 1923 [printed in Oct. and Nov. 1922].

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

Out of stock

First appearance of new poems

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Anno Domini

Zinaburg, Berlin, for Petropolis and Alkonost, Peterburg, 1923 [printed in Oct. 1922].

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

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

Out of stock

When she was still allowed in Soviet Union

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Belaia staia [White Flock]

Peterburg, 23aia. Gos. Tip. for Alkonost, 1922.

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

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

Out of stock

First time in Berlin

AKHMATOVA, Anna

Belaia staia [White Flock]

Zinaburg, Berlin, for Petropolis and Alkonost, Peterburg, 1923 [printed in Nov. 1922].

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

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

Out of stock

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]

[Moskva?, 1968?].

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

Never published in his lifetime

BULGAKOV, Mikhail

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

[Soviet Union, 1960s-70s].

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

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