Russian classics | PY Rare Books

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Image for F. DOSTOEVSKY and others. Poor Folk, in Peterburskii sbornik. First edition, in Russian. St. Petersburg, 1846. #2

Dostoevsky's successful debut in Nekrasov's famous anthology - the Fekula copy

DOSTOEVSKII, Fedor [DOSTOEVSKY], Nikolai NEKRASOV, Vissarion BELINSKII, ISKANDER [pseud. for Aleksandr HERZEN], Ivan TURGENEV, et al

Bednye liudi [in] Peterburgskii sbornik [Poor Folk; in: Petersburg Miscellany]

Skt Peterburg, Eduard Prats, 1846. £19,500

A landmark in Russian literature history: one of the most important compilations of classic Russian literature, featuring the first and life-changing publication of Dostoevsky's debut novel as well as contributions from major writers and critics such as Turgenev, Nekrasov, Belinskii, and Herzen.

Image for B. PASTERNAK. Doktor Zhivago. First edition. The Hague, 1958. #2

The remarkable CIA-backed first edition of a Nobel Prize

PASTERNAK, Boris

Doktor Zhivago

G. Feltrinelli, Milan [but Mouton, The Hague], 1958. £17,500

One of the most famous first editions of 20th-c. Russian literature: published by the CIA under a false imprint - or literature as a political weapon. A pleasant copy.

Image for CHEKHOV, BUNIN, GORKY etc. Znanie collection for 1903; with first edition of Cherry Orchard. St. Peterburg, 1904. #2

First publication of the Cherry Orchard anywhere

CHEKHOV, Anton, Ivan BUNIN, Maksim GORKY and others

Sbornik Tovarishchestva "Znanie" za 1903 god [Collection of the "Knowledge" Society for the year 1903].

Isidor Goldberg, Skt. Peterburg, 1904. £2,950

Fine example of this literary almanac, rarer with both parts of 1903, including the very first publication of Chekhov's famous play. With other first publications by leading Russian authors of the time.

Image for NARBUT & KRYLOV. Tri basni [Three Fables]. Knebel, Moscow, 1911, first edition with these illustrations. #2

Fables in silhouette

NARBUT, Egor (artist) and Ivan Andreevich KRYLOV

Tri basni Krylova [Three Fables by Krylov]

Knebel, Moskva, [1911]. £850

Three fables by the most famous Russian fabulist, here illustrated by the leading Ukrainian artist. Scarce in this attractive condition.

Image for TOLSTOY, L. Vlast Tmy [The Power of Darkness]. First edition, Moscow, 1887. #2

"For adults" as printed on the title page

Vlast Tmy [The Power of Darkness]

Sytin, Moskva, 1887. £1,100

First edition of Tolstoy's play, forbidden for the stage during some years. A very good example in contemporary binding.

Image for L. TOLSTOY. Khadzhi-Murat. First separate edition. Moscow, 1912. #2

Tolstoy's "most painful text and the most intimate"

Khadzhi-Murat [Hadji-Murad]

Riabushinskii for Posrednik, Moskva, 1912. £2,250

Likely the first separate edition of this important novella, telling the tragic story of a Caucasian leader in the midst of Russia's conquest. A very rare edition, with only one other copy located.

Image for [RUSSIAN POETRY IN TRANSLATION]. Nachbildungen Russischer Originale. First edition thus, inscribed. Berlin, 1905. #2

Poems inscribed to Pushkin's granddaughter

V. W. [ie. Wilhelm van der VILET]

Nachbildungen Russischer Originale

Bernstein, Berlin, 1905. £975

Imperial copy of this scarce anthology of Russian poems in a German translation, inscribed to a Grand Duchess of Russia and granddaughter of Russia's greatest poet. Acquired from the Grand Duke's descent.

Image for PUSHKIN & VASNETSOV. Pesn o Veshchem Olege. Moskva, 1914. #2

In the larger and rarer format

VASNETSOV, Viktor (artist) and Aleksandr PUSHKIN

Pesn o Veshchem Olege [The Song of Wise Oleg]

Levenson, Moskva, [1914]. £2,950

A famous work, here in the unusual large, folio format, rarer than the first edition (which was a quarto).

Image for PUSHKIN. Eugene Oneguine. First English translation, inscribed. London, 1881. #2

Onegin in English for the first time, "with the translator's compliments"

PUSHKIN, Alexander and Henry SPALDING (transl.)

Eugene Onéguine

London, Macmillan and Co., 1881. £8,000

Desirable copy of this landmark translation, the first into English and here inscribed by the translator.

Image for POUCHKINE. Ruslan et Ludmila, première édition en vers, avec envoi, Paris, 1898. #2

Inscribed by the translator, a feminist character

[PUSHKIN] – Alexandre POUCHKINE, Véra STARKOFF (transl.) and Marie EGOROFF (artist)

Rouslane et Ludmile

Lafoyer, Vannes, for Librairie de l'art indépendant, Paris, 1898. £2,450

The first complete poetic French translation of Pushkin's celebrated work. Strikingly illustrated by an original Russian female artist, and this copy inscribed by the translator: a politically-engaged playwright and one of the main figures of the feminist theatre movement in France. Rarely found, and only 500 copies printed.

Image for I. BILIBIN. Sakzki [Six Volumes of Russian Folk Tales]. First editions. St. Petersburg, 1901-1903 #2

The epitome of the Russian children book

BILIBIN, Ivan (artist)

Skazki [Folk Tales]

Skt. Peterburg, Eksp. Zagotovl. Gos. Bumag, 1901-1903. £4,950

Fine, complete set of the six children books which made Bilibin's fame so long lasting. All in first edition, beautifully preserved.

Image for A. GRIBOEDOV. Gore ot Uma [Woe from Wit]. St. Petersburg, 1854. Rare small-format edition. #2

Wit in your pocket - with wrappers

GRIBOEDOV, Aleksandr

Gore ot uma. Komediia v chetyrekh deistviiakh, v stikhakh [Woe from Wit. A Comedy in Four Acts in Verse]

Tip. Shtaba Voenno-Uchebn. Zaved., Skt Peterburg, 1854. £2,500

Rare small-format edition of this famous masterpiece of Russian theatre, a lovely copy with its original wrappers. No copy traced in WorldCat.

Image for KRYLOV. Basni [Fables]. Miniature edition, St. Petersburg, 1848. #2

Fables in your pocket

KRYLOV, Ivan Andreevich

Basni [...] v deviati knigakh [Fables in IX Books]

Frantsuzskaia tip. for Iu. Iungmeister, E. Veimar, Skt Peterburg, 1848. £1,950

A 'miniature' edition, uncommon, of the most celebrated Russian fabulist: a lovely copy, in its first binding, fragile but here in appealing condition.

Image for HERZEN. Byloe i dumy. First complete edition of Herzen's main work. Belrin, 1921. #2

Not a friend of Romanovs' Russia

GERTSEN, Aleksandr Ivanovich [Alexander HERZEN]

Byloe i dumy: Pervoe polnoe izdanie [My Past and Thoughts: First Complete Edition]

Slovo, Berlin, 1921. £750

First complete edition of Herzen's main work, containing "the broadest, most truthful and most penetrating overview of the Russian social and cultural history of the first half of the nineteenth century". A scarce edition, in five small volumes.

Image for L. TOLSTOY. Kritika dogmaticheskogo bogosloviia [Critique of Dogmatic Theology]. First edition, rare. Geneva, 1891-96. #2

First copy on the market in 40 years

Kritika dogmaticheskago bogosloviia [Critique of Dogmatic Theology]

Obshchee delo for M. Elpidine, Geneve, 1891-6. £3,750

Rare first edition of Tolstoy's important critical religious text, published in Geneva as it was impossible to have it authorised in the Russian empire. No copy traced on the market in recent decades - this one a pleasant example.

Image for TSVETAEVA, M. Poet i vremia. First edition. Prague, 1932. #2

The great poetess' comments on poetry

TSVETAEVA, Marina Ivanovna

Poet i vremia [The Poet and Time]

Volia Rossii, Prague, 1932. £650

Scarce first publication of Tsvetaeva's important essay on poetry.

Image for NARBUT & KRYLOV. Basni [Fables]. Knebel, Moscow, 1912, first edition with these illustrations. #2

Fables in silhouette

NARBUT, Egor (artist) and Ivan Andreevich KRYLOV

Basni Krylova [Krylov's Fables]

Knebel, Moskva, [1912]. £850

Some of the most famous Russian fables here illustrated by the leading Ukrainian artist. Scarce in this lovely condition.

Image for A. AKHMATOVA. 50 Stikhotvorenii [50 Poems]. Paris, 1963. In fine condition. #2

Unauthorised edition

AKHMATOVA, Anna

50 stikhotvorenii [50 poems]

Paris, YMCA-Press, 1963. £650

Fine copy, in its original printed wrappers, of this large-format edition of some of the poems of Russia's great poetess. Printed with a mimeograph machine.

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