Erstausgaben Russischer Literatur | PY Rare Books

"One only wants to be like Chekhov"

Nashi [Ours]

£2,500

"One only wants to be like Chekhov"
DOVLATOV, Sergei. Nashi. [Ours]
Published/created in: 1983

£2,500

First edition of this collection of short stories by the famous Russian author. An appealing example, inscribed by Dovlatov to a figure of the US Russian emigration.

Image for S. DOVLATOV. Zona. First edition, inscribed. Ann Arbor, 1982. #2

His "most important book" - inscribed

DOVLATOV, Sergei

Zona: zapiski nadziratelia [The Zone: A Prison Camp Guard's Story]

£3,000

His "most important book" - inscribed
DOVLATOV, Sergei. Zona: zapiski nadziratelia. [The Zone: A Prison Camp Guard's Story]
Published/created in: 1982

£3,000

First edition Dovlatov's famous work, inscribed to a figure of the Russian emigration in the US.

Image for I. ERENBURG. Poems. First edition, Paris, 1910. #2

A review copy of his rare first book

ERENBURG, Ilia Grigorevich

Stikhi [Poems]

£1,500

A review copy of his rare first book
ERENBURG, Ilia Grigorevich. Stikhi. [Poems]
Published/created in: 1910

£1,500

An interesting, annotated example of this first edition of Erenburg's first book, here in its original wrappers. Rarely found - one of 100 copies only.

Image for S. ESENIN. Poems of Scandalist. First edition, in Russian. Berlin, 1923. #2

My best poems - in Isadora Duncan's company

ESENIN, Sergei (also Sergei YESENIN)

Stikhi skandalista [Poems of a Scandalist]

£3,500

My best poems - in Isadora Duncan's company
ESENIN, Sergei (also Sergei YESENIN). Stikhi skandalista. [Poems of a Scandalist]
Published/created in: 1923

£3,500

Pleasant example of the frst edition of this important collection. With a famous cycle, banned in the USSR. Published in Berlin but scarce on the market outside Russia.

Image for G. SHVETSOV. Three works on Tsar Alexander II and Russia, inscribed to Olga Aleksandrovna. St. Petersburg, 1884-87. #2

Inscribed by the liberated serf to the Tsar's natural daughter

[ROMANOVS – ALEXANDER II] – SHVETSOV, Gordei Mikhaïlovich

Sochineniia russkogo poeta prostoliudina [Title on cover] [Works of the Russian Common-Man Poet]

£4,750

Inscribed by the liberated serf to the Tsar's natural daughter
[ROMANOVS - ALEXANDER II] - SHVETSOV, Gordei Mikhaïlovich. Sochineniia russkogo poeta prostoliudina [Title on cover]. [Works of the Russian Common-Man Poet]
Published/created in: 1887, 1884 and 1885

£4,750

A fascinating volume concentrating various aspects of Tsar Alexander's II legacy, with poems celebrating his achievements, written by a former, freed serf and inscribed to the tsar's daughter with his mistress. An exceptional copy.

Image for B. PASTERNAK. Selected Poems. First edition, Moscow, 1926. In wrappers. #2

First poetry collection of a future Nobel Prize

PASTERNAK, Boris

Izbrannye stikhi [Selected Poems]

£950

First poetry collection of a future Nobel Prize
PASTERNAK, Boris. Izbrannye stikhi. [Selected Poems]
Published/created in: 1926

£950

Superb copy of this early collection of Pasternak's poems. First edition, scarce outside Russia.

Image for K. R. [Konstantin ROMANOV]. Poems and New Poems, in the original Russian, bound together. St. Petersburg, 1889. #2

The most august of Russian poets

K. R. [pseud. for Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich ROMANOV]

Stikhotvoreniia K. R.: 1879-1885 [bound with] Novye stikhotvoreniia K. R.: 1886-1888 [Poems of K. R.: 1879-1885, bound with: New Poems of K. R.: 1886-1888]

£1,450

The most august of Russian poets
K. R. [pseud. for Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich ROMANOV]. Stikhotvoreniia K. R.: 1879-1885 [bound with] Novye stikhotvoreniia K. R.: 1886-1888. [Poems of K. R.: 1879-1885, bound with: New Poems of K. R.: 1886-1888]
Published/created in: 1889

£1,450

Two volumes in one of the lyrics of Grand Duke Konstantin Romanov. A friend of Tchaikovsky and key patron of the arts in the last decades of the Russian Empire, the Grand Duke concealed his poetical activities behind the initials "K. R.". A fine example of these rare editions.

Image for J. BRODSKY. Verses and Poems, first edition in the original Russia. USA, 1965. #2

A Nobel Prize's first book

BRODSKII, Iosif [also Joseph BRODSKY]

Stikhotvoreniia i poemy [Verses and Poems]

£750

A Nobel Prize's first book
BRODSKII, Iosif [also Joseph BRODSKY]. Stikhotvoreniia i poemy. [Verses and Poems]
Published/created in: 1965

£750

First edition of an important start: the future nobel prize winner's first collection of poems that had to be published abroad after he was sentenced to five years of hard labor for "social parasitism" in 1964.

Image for TOLSTOY, Zhivoi Trup [A Living Corpse], first book edition in the original Russian, Moscow, 1912 #1

Tolstoy's answer to Chekhov - unopened

TOLSTOY, Lev Nikolaevich [TOLSTOI]

Zhivoi trup. Drama v 6 deistviyakh i 12 kartinakh [A Living Corpse. A drama in 6 acts and 12 scenes]

£1,000

Tolstoy's answer to Chekhov - unopened
TOLSTOY, Lev Nikolaevich [TOLSTOI]. Zhivoi trup. Drama v 6 deistviyakh i 12 kartinakh. [A Living Corpse. A drama in 6 acts and 12 scenes]
Published/created in: 1912

£1,000

First separate edition of Tolstoy's play, a large-format quality production, with illustrations. A lovely example, unopened in the charming art-nouveau wrappers.

Tolstoy wrote in his diary, "that in A Living Corpse there are notes inspired by Chekhov's work. Such is the secret of artistic creativeness".

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

From the author of 'We'

ZAMIATIN, Evgenii [also ZAMYATIN]

Litsa [Faces]

£95

From the author of 'We'
ZAMIATIN, Evgenii [also ZAMYATIN]. Litsa. [Faces]
Published/created in: 1955

£95

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

Image for I. GONCHAROV. Obryv. First edition, St. Petersburg, 1870. #2

"This is the child of my heart"

GONCHAROV, Ivan

Obryv [The Precipice]

£2,500

"This is the child of my heart"
GONCHAROV, Ivan. Obryv. [The Precipice]
Published/created in: 1870

£2,500

First edition in book form of this novel, Goncharov's last. A fresh, crisp example.

Image for F. DOSTOEVSKY, Zapiski iz mertvago doma. First edition, in Russian, St. Petersburg, 1862. #2

An "unsurpassed work of Russian and world literature" (Lenin)

DOSTOEVSKY, Fedor

Zapiski iz mertvago doma [Memoirs from the House of the Dead]

£6,750

An "unsurpassed work of Russian and world literature" (Lenin)
DOSTOEVSKY, Fedor. Zapiski iz mertvago doma. [Memoirs from the House of the Dead]
Published/created in: 1862

£6,750

First complete edition of Dostoevsky's famous work, here in a contemporary Russian binding and good condition.

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

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]
Published/created in: 1928

£2,750

Early Nabokov: a pleasant example of the novel's first edition, in the original Russian.

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

A Black Sea youth
AKHMATOVA, Anna. U samogo moria. [At the Edge of the Sea]
Published/created in: 1921

£750

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

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'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]
Published/created in: 1899, 1895 and [1903]

£1,500

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 TSVETAEVA, M. Razluka, first edition. Berlin, 1922. #2

Partially unopened, in the publisher's boards

TSVETAEVA, Marina Ivanovna

Razluka [Separation]

£1,500

Partially unopened, in the publisher's boards
TSVETAEVA, Marina Ivanovna. Razluka. [Separation]
Published/created in: 1922

£1,500

An attractive example of this fragile production, Tsvetaeva's first poetry collection published abroad. First edition.

Image for PARNOK, S. Vpolgolosa, first edition, inscribed. Moscow, 1928. #2

"Russia's Sapho" and her circle of female friends

PARNOK, Sofiia

Vpolgolosa. Stkihi 1926-1927 [Half-Whispered. Poems 1926-1927]

£4,250

"Russia's Sapho" and her circle of female friends
PARNOK, Sofiia. Vpolgolosa. Stkihi 1926-1927. [Half-Whispered. Poems 1926-1927]
Published/created in: 1928

£4,250

An inscribed copy of Parnok's last collection of verses: a very rare work by a Russian woman standing out in the literary landscape of the country.

Image for GOGOL. Mertvie dushi [Dead Souls]. First edition. Moscow, 1842 #2

Gogol's masterpiece with "All of Russia"

GOGOL, Nikolai

Pokhozhdeniia Chichikova, ili Mertvyia dushi. Poema [The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls. A Poem]

£39,500

Gogol's masterpiece with "All of Russia"
GOGOL, Nikolai. Pokhozhdeniia Chichikova, ili Mertvyia dushi. Poema. [The Adventures of Chichikov, or Dead Souls. A Poem]
Published/created in: 1842

£39,500

A pinacle of humour and Russia's second great novel (after Lermontov's 'Hero of our Times'), here in a fine example of the first edition, with the very rare and famous upper wrapper.

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