Littérature russe | PY Rare Books

Image for N. GOGOL. Works, one volume in Russian. St. Petersburg, 1901. #2

Out of stock

All his masterpieces in a bright art-nouveau volume

Sochineniia [Works]

Marks, Skt. Peterburg, 1901.

One of the greatest Ukrainian and Russian authors in one volume, pretty dense but here in fantastic condition, with a lovely, unusual cloth binding.

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 PUSHKIN & BENOIS. Pikovaia dama, first edition with these illustrations. Skt. Peterburg, 1911. #3

Out of stock

Famous Russian 'livre d'artiste'

PUSHKIN, Aleksandr and Aleksandr BENUA [BENOIS] (artist)

Pikovaia Dama [Queen of Spades]

Skt. Peterburg, P. Golike and A. Vilborg, 1911.

A novella masterpiece of Russian literature here in a celebrated edition finely illustrated by a major Russian artist and art historian. A beautiful production too, and this is an attractive example.

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 A. PUSHKIN. Kapitanskaia Dochka. Illustrated edition, Moscow, 1891. #2

Out of stock

Pushkin illustrated

PUSHKIN, Alexandr

Kapitanskaia Dochka [The Captain's Daughter]

A. I. Mamontov and Chardon-Wittman, Paris (plates only), for V. G. Gote, Moskva, 1891.

Very attractive copy of this typical example of Russian "artistic literature", finely produced almost a century after Pushkin's birth.

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 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

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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 BUNIN, I. Pod otkrytym nebom [and] Stikhi i rasskazy. First editions, Moscow, 1898 and 1900. #1

Out of stock

Inscribed by the future Nobel Prize

BUNIN, Ivan

Pod otkrytym nebom [bound with:] Stikhi i Rasskazy

[Under the Open Skies [bound with:] Poems and Short stories]

Kushnerov i Ko, Moskva and Rikhter, Moskva, 1898, 1900.

A lovely volume with two first editions, including one inscribed by Bunin. Both works are rarely found.

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.

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

Out of stock

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

GROSSMAN, Vasilii

Vse techet [Everything flows]

Posev, Frankfurt/Main, 1974.

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

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

Out of stock

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]

Elpidin, Zheneva for Benda, Vevey, 1867.

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 Russian humorists, New York, 1920. Very rare edition. #2

Out of stock

Russians laughing in New York during the Civil War in Russia

PRUTKOV, Kozma, Dmitrii MINAEV, Anna BARYKOVA, Stepan RUDANSKYI and others

Iumoristicheskii chtets-deklamator. Polnoe sobranie samykh luchshikh stikhotvorenii [Humorous Reader-Reciter. Complete Collection of the Very Best Poems]

Russkoe Narodnoe Izd. Obshchestvo, Niu Iork, 1920.

Small-format émigré edition to make the Russophones in America laugh. Extremely rare: no copy traced except one in St. Petersburg.

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