Our Notes & References

The true first Russian edition of the celebrated and accidentally controversial novel by the great Russian Silver Age poet, a piracy created with close involvement of the CIA. This unofficial publication was designed for distribution to Soviet visitors to the 1958 Brussels World Fair, in the hope that the text with its subtle references to the hardships of life under the authoritarian tyranny would instigate doubts about the legitimacy of the Soviet regime and plant seeds for future revolt.

Doktor Zhivago was Pasternak’s only novel, which he spent writing over many years or even decades. Set between the early 1900s and World War II, the novel contains a number of complex plot lines and themes, including criticisms of the role of the government in the lives of citizens, and criticisms of the October Revolution and its aftermath.

The book had been submitted for publication to Novyi Mir in 1956 and had been initially accepted, but at the last moment its publication was reconsidered by the authorities and denied. Fortunately for the author, a Milan publisher had received a copy of the manuscript (actually a typescript) from an Italian literary scout working in Moscow. In June 1956, Pasternak signed a contract with the publisher, Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, who would resist all efforts by the Kremlin and the Italian Communist Party to suppress the book. In November 1957, he released an Italian-language edition of Doktor Zhivago.

The CIA immediately saw the novel as a potent tool in the war for the hearts and minds of the Soviet citizens. During the Cold War, books were weapons, and if a work of literature was unavailable or banned in the Soviet Union, it could be used as propaganda to challenge the Soviet version of reality.

Working with British intelligence, the CIA acquired a copy of the typescript in the original Russian in summer 1958. The agency then promptly contacted the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (BVD), which facilitated printing of the novel in The Hague with the CIA providing strict guidance and funds to cover the print run. One thousand copies were published by Mouton Publishers but under Feltrinelli’s (fake) imprint. 200 copies were sent to the CIA headquarters, 200 to Frankfurt, 100 to Berlin, 100 to Munich, 25 to London, 10 to Paris, and the largest quantity, 365, to Brussels.

In the summer and fall of 1958, Belgium hosted the Universal and International Exposition in Brussels, the first World’s Fair after World War II. Both the United States and the Soviet Union built large exhibitions as part of the event, and more than 16,000 Soviet citizens received visas to attend.

As the role of the United States in the publication of the novel could not have been compromised, the CIA turned to an unlikely partner to help distribute the books during the fair: the Vatican. The Holy See had its own pavilion, which included as part of the display a small library run by Russian émigré Catholics with books, articles, and pamphlets related to the government suppression of Christianity.

The CIA considered the operation to be a success. However, a problem arised. The CIA had anticipated that the Dutch publisher would sign a contract with Feltrinelli, Pasternak’s Milan publisher, and that the books handed out in Brussels would be seen as part of a legitimate print run. As the contract was never signed, the Russian-language edition printed in The Hague was actually illegal. Feltrinelli, who held the rights to Doktor Zhivago, was furious when he learned about the distribution of the novel in Brussels. He threatened legal action, and reached a compromise before a court trial was necessary. Mouton issued an apology and agreed to an “indemnity obligation” to print an additional five thousand copies for Feltrinelli.

Following the successful distribution of the first thousand Russian-language copies of Zhivago, the agency decided to fund a second print run, including 7,000 copies for individuals who would take them into the Soviet Union, and 2,000 copies that would be distributed at the Vienna Youth Festival later that year. The Agency stamped each of these copies as coming from the Société d’Edition et d’Impression Mondiale, a nonexistent French publisher. Further deception was provided by a Russian émigré group that quickly claimed credit for their distribution.

Even though the scandal sparked press interest and rumours, the involvement of the CIA in the publication was not confirmed until April 2014, when definitive evidence of its operation was declassified.

This now celebrated Mouton edition is a very unusual book, whose role in history has been, spiritually, politically, and simply physically, extraordinary among its class of objects.

Rare. Even though a significant number of copies were originally printed, not many survived, as readers would often rip off cover and divide pages in order to make the book easier to hide from authorities. We are aware of a handful of copies in private collections, but institutional holdings are few, at least catalogued under the real imprint: our research made us aware of a copy in the Library of Congress, one in the British Library and two in Harvard.

Provenance

Private collection, London.

Bibliography

Peter Finn and Petra Couvée, The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book (Pantheon Books, 2014); Paulo Mancosu, Inside the Zhivago Storm, Feltrinelli, 2013.