Our Notes & References
Very rare first Russian edition of this popular novel by one of the favourite authors of the 19th-c. bourgeoisie, and an important figure in the Russian literary landscape. WorldCat locates only one copy in the Yudin’s collection at the Library of Congress, to which we could add a copy in both main Russian libraries (RGB and RNB).
Charles Paul de Kock (1794-1871) was a prolific French novelist who wrote about 100 titles, with many of them depicting life of lower- and middle-class Parisians. Kock’s novels were extremely popular both at home and abroad, even though many of his contemporary as well as later readers admitted that they were ‘rather vulgar, but not immoral, demanding no literary training and gratifying no delicate taste’ (New International Encyclopedia, 1905).
Kock’s novels met a particularly great success with the Russian bourgeoisie and ‘upper middle class’, who were fascinated at the time with everything French. V.G. Belinskii and N.A. Nekrasov wrote multiple reviews of Kock’s works, while Dostoevsky mentioned him on multiple occasions in his own novels. Varvara Lavretskaia, the main character of Turgenev’s novel “Dvorianskoe Gnezdo” [The Nobility Nest] and a great lover of popular French literature, preferred de Kock to all other writers.
Belinskii noted in particular Kock’s realism: “The novels of Paul de Kock, full of dirty [griaznye] pictures, are remarkable by the deficiency, or, better to say, the complete absence of the ideal element; but this deficiency is replaced by the inexhaustible kindness of his heart, and the dirty pictures have their significance as a mirror of French life” (our translation).
‘La Laitière de Montfermeil’ was published in original French in 1827, and this Russian translation, done by N. Shygaev, was issued by the well known St. Petersburg publisher Pluchart only four years later, at the heart of the ‘Golden Age’ of Russian literature, when Pushkin and Gogol among others were publishing masterpieces.
Provenance
‘A.M.’ (initials to spines’ foot).
Physical Description
Five parts in two vol. small 8vo (16 x 10.5 cm). 180, 182, 166, 165, 163 pp., all parts with own half-titles an titles.
Binding
Contemporary brown tree calf, flat red sheep spines gilt in compartments, covers with gilt greek key borders, all edges gilt, blue and brown endpapers.
Condition
Binding with gilt oxydized, extremities worn, esp. hinges, some starting or partially split, traces of removed labels on upper pastedowns; occasional spotting and light foxing, light marginal waterstain in part V; still a pleasant copy in a rather prestigious, contemporary Russian binding.
![Image for MANDELSHTAM, Kamen [Stone], first edition, Skt. Peterburg, 1913. #2](https://www.pyrarebooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/717_1.jpg)
