Repression | PY Rare Books

Image for EVANGULOV & others. Koster. First edition, inscribed. Vladikavkaz, 1920. #2

Very rare poetry in Civil War – twice inscribed

EVANGULOV, Gerogii, G. A[STAKHOV], Liudmila BERIDZE, Riurik IVNEV, Konst. IUST, and Ivan IVANOV (artist)

Koster. Stikhi [Bonfire. Poems]

Vladikavkaz, Terkavtsentropechat, 1920. £2,250

Extremely rare provincial publication in the aftermath of the Civil War - a choice copy with the striking cover coloured and a double inscription to its artist.

Image for S. DOVLATOV. Nashi [Ours]. First edition, inscribed. Ann Arbor, 1983. #2

"One only wants to be like Chekhov"

DOVLATOV, Sergei

Nashi [Ours]

Ardis, Ann Arbor, 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]

Ermitazh, Ann Arbor, 1982. £3,000

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

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]

Iosafat Ogrizko, Skt. Peterburg, 1862. £6,750

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

Image for VERBITSKYI, M. on Holodomor.First edition, London, 1952. #2

Famine? Which famine?

VERBYTSKYI, M

Naibilshyi zlochyn Kremlia: zaplianovanyi shtuchnyi holod v Ukraini 1932-1933 rokiv [The Kremlin's Greatest Crime: the Planned Artificial Famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933]

DOBRUS, London, 1952. £450

A striking cover for a striking book: the first extensive study of the 1930s Great Famine in Ukraine. First edition, published in London.

Image for SOLOVETSKY Monastery. Istoriia..., first edition, Skt. Peterburg, 1899. #2

Beautiful White Sea monastery turned GULAG camp

[IOANNIKII, I.F., Archimadrite]

Istoriia pervoklassnogo stavropigialnogo Solovetskogo monastyria [History of Stavropegic first-class Solovetsky Monastery]

Evdokimov, Skt Peterburg, 1899. £650

Very good copy of this uncommon illustrated history of one of the most famous monasteries of Russia. With two large folding plans.

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

With the rarest cover variant

SOLZHENITSYN, Aleksandr Isaevich

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

Flegon Press, London, [1962]. £4,750

First edition of Solzhenitsyn's first book - here with the very rare variant of the cover showing a watchtower. A fine example of this great novel.

Image for SHALAMOV, V. Kolymskie rasskazy. First edition, in the original Russian, 1978. #1

With provenance

SHALAMOV, Varlam Tikhonovich

Kolymskie rasskazy [Kolyma Stories]

London, Overseas Publications Interchange, 1978. £1,250

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

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]

Golos Rossiii, Berlin, 1921. £1,950

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.

The failed revolt - very rare

[DECEMBRISTS]

Donesenie Varshavskogo komiteta [Report of the Warsaw Investigation Committee]

[Warsaw or St. Petersburg: probably at the Press of His Imperial Majesty's General Staff], 1826. £3,750

Very rare first edition of this important report on the Decembrists' revoltof the end of 1825. A lovely copy with contemporary provenance. Only one example traced outside Russia.

Image for MANDELSHTAM & TERTS. Fourth Prose & Literary Process in Russia. Samizdats in Russian, USSR, 1970s-80s. #2

Out of stock

Owning these texts would send you to the Gulag

MANDELSHTAM, Osip and Abram TERTS [pseud. Andrei SINIAVSKII]

Chetvertaia proza [WITH:] Literaturnyi protsess v Rossii [Fourth Prose [AND:] Literary Process in Russia]

[USSR, late 1970s-early 1980s].

A fine samizdat gathering two banned texts from two repressed authors - a dangerous artifact indeed. Very rare, as we couldn't trace other Soviet-time samizdats of these works.

Image for A. AKHMATOVA., Rekviem [Requiem]. First edition, Munich. 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 most famous works, considered by many to be her finest. An important tamizdat of one of the best Russian poets; one of 500 copies only.

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.

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 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 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 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 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.

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