[THE FIRST BOOK BY OSIP MANDELSTAM] Kamen’: Stikhi [i.e. A Stone: Verses]
St. Petersburg: Akme [printed at the author's expense by Iu. Mansfeld], 1913. â â [2], 34 pp. 21x14 cm. In original publisher's illustrated wrappers. Spine restored, some pale stains on the covers, few pencil marks, otherwise very good. â â A very good copy of the first edition of the first book by one of the greatest Russian poets Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938). The publication represents a great rarity in terms of both its low print run (300 copies) and the fact that after Mandelstam's arrest in 1938, his works were confiscated and vigorously destroyed in the USSR. â Published in 1913 at the author's own expense, this collection of poems marked Osip Mandelstam's debut and immediately established him in the upper echelon of Russian poets. The book contains 23 verses composed by the author in the period from 1908 to 1913, during his studies at Heidelberg, the Sorbonne, and St. Petersburg. â Mandelstam's brother, Evgeny: "I remember the day when Osip and I went to the printing house on Mokhovaya Street and received a finished print run. The author took one pack, and I took the other. Our task was to sell the books. After long deliberation, we handed over the entire circulation to the large bookstore of Popov-Yasny. From time to time my brother sent me to find out how many copies had been sold, and when I reported that forty-two books had already been sold out, our whole family celebrated. This sounded like the first recognition of the poet by readers." â During the era when Stone was first published, Symbolism was the dominant form of poetic expression among Russian poets. Like Mayakovsky and Khlebnikov, Mandelstam departed from this obsolete mode of expression in favor of a more direct treatment of thoughts. As a result, Stone established Osip as one of the foremost representatives of the Acmeist school. â Stone was the only collection of Mandelstam's poems that was republished twice (1916; 1923) during the lifetime of the author. In total, Osip managed to issue 4 collections of poems, Stone (1913; 1916; 1923); Tristia (1922), Vtoraya kniga [i.e. The Second Book] (1923), Stikhotvoreniya [i.e. Poems] (1928), and 4 poetry books for children, Dva tramvaya [i.e. Two Trams] (1925), Primus (1925), Shari [i.e. Balloons] (1926), Kukhnya [i.e. A Kitchen] (1926). Although from the 1930s to the end of the 1980s, Mandelstam's poems were banned and withdrawn from circulation, his works were still actively distributed in samizdat.
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[FIRST THE CUTTING OF THE FOREST AND SECOND SEVASTOPOL SKETCH]
Noch. Vesnoiu 1855 goda v Sevastopole // Sovremennik. Tom LIII [i.e. The Night. Sevastopol in Spring of 1855 // The Contemporary. Vol. LIII]. Pp. 5-30. Rubka lesa // Sovremennik. Tom LIII [i.e. The Cutting of the Forest // The Contemporary. Vol. LIII]. Pp. 35-68. 24x15 cm. In contemporary half-leather with stamping, new paper on boards. Near fine, marking on the title page, restoration of margins of the few pages. First publication of the second of Sevastopol Sketches 'The Night. Sevastopol in Spring of 1855' (now known as 'Sevastopol in May') and 'The Cutting of the Forest'. 'The Night' was based on the event that Tolstoy was eyewitness to during Sevastopol Siege. After Nekrasov read it and wrote to Turgenev: «.this essay is so full of sober and deep truth so there is nothing even to think about printing it». When the story was typed for print Musin- Pushkin, the chairman of the St. Petersburg censorship committee decided to read its proofs. He was outraged by the depiction of Russian officers and made a lot of corrections which made it unrecognizable. It was printed unsigned. 'The Cutting of the Forest' is a short story about one day of the platoon at Caucasia war and is a part of the Caucasus series. The story was signed by Tolstoy (L.N.T.) and dedicated to Ivan Turgenev. Turgenev wasn't acquainted with the author at that time, wrote him a letter to thank him («Nothing in my literary carier had so flattered my vanity yet»). Nekrasov later wrote to Tolstoy about the story: «.it reminds of Turgenev by its form, but only that. Everything else is all yours». [SOVIET AGITPOP THEATER] Sinyaya bluza. 5 let. [i.e. Blue Blouse. 5 Years] / posvyaschaetsya pyatiletiyu Sinei bluzy. Sbornik pod redakciey B. Uzhanina i V. Mrozovskogo. [i.e. dedicated to “Blue Blouse” 5th Anniversary. Collection edited by B. Uzhanin and V. Mrozovsky]
Moscow: Iskra revolyutsii, 1928. [64] pp. 26x17 cm. 5000 copies printed. Wrapper designed by B. Sakhnovsky, photo-montage by A. Akhtyrko, L. Zotov, B. Sakhnovsky. Spine is repaired with paper, otherwise good condition. "Blue Blouse" was a popular theater-collective of the early Soviet era. First a small troupe, it was soon replicated across the country, and by 1927 there were 5000 troupes with more than 100,000 actors involved. Essentially, they filled the gap left by the pre-revolutionary phenomenon of folk-theater. The "Blue Blouse" founded the style of agitprop theater, a corollary of the poster propaganda of the day. Most of the well-known Soviet poets and writers were involved in "Blue Blouse" productions: Osip Brik was the ideological creator of the theater; Vladimir Mayakovsky amd Vassily Lebedev-Kumach were among its writers. A tour of the theater to Germany, Lithuania and China connected with a wide public. This collection celebrates the 5th anniversary of the theater. It includes reviews of Sinyaya Bluza productions and describes the most notable performances. OCLC locates no copies in USA. [FIRST RUSSIAN EDITION OF â THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA]â Starik i more [i.e. The Old Man and the Sea] / translated from English by E. Golisheva and B. Izakov
Moscow: Detgiz, 1956. 96 pp., ill. Original card boards and dust-wrapper.â The dust-wrapper and the frontispiece by Mark Klyatchko (1924-2000), design of the book by Solomon Telingater. Very good, edges of the dust wrapper are rubbed and backed with tape in several places, pen marks on the front page. First separate edition in Russian, translated by Elena Golysheva and Boris Izakov. It first appeared in Inostrannaia Literatura in 1955. This is the large-format printing by Detgiz, the official state publishing house for children's books; the translation was also issued by Ogonek the same year. "In 1955, after a period of sixteen years in which there were no new translations of Hemingway and no reprintings, The Old Man and the Sea was published in the magazine Inostrannaia literatura. The story created a sensation among Soviet readers; once more Hemingway was their favourite living American author. No doubt he had never lost first place in the hearts of many of them, but now the official sanction of an appearance in print made it possible to admire him openly again ." (Deming Brown, Soviet Attitudes towards American Writing, p. 311). [CHICHAGOVA ON CONSTRUCTIVISM] Korabl’. Literaturno-khudozhestvennyi dvukhnedel’nik [i.e. The Ship. Literary and Art Two Weeks Magazine]. #1-2, 1923
Kaluga: Korabl, 1922-1923. 58 pp. 34x26 cm. In publisher's wrappers. Tears of the spine, loss of the lower margin of the front wrapper and a few pages, few marks in text (pencil), three lines are painted over on p.12 (pen). First and only, very rare provincial edition. One of 3000 copies. The first issue of "The Ship" was published on October 1, 1922 by the editors of Kaluga newspaper 'Kommuna'. Presented here is the last issue of the magazine (#7-8 or #1-2 of 1923), and it included works by B. Pil'niak, Sel'vinsky, V. Briusov, B. Pasternak, V. Khlebnikov, I. Gruzinov, V. Kamensky and others. One of the most interesting and valuable material of the issue was a program and key constructivist piece by Olga Chichagova (1886-1958), famous Russian artist and book designer, who studied at VKHUTEMAS under Rodchenko and where she together with her sister Galina formed their own constructivist style. The article is dedicated to constructivism in which she stated the purpose of young constructivist's activism - formation of a new man: "In essence, constructivism denies art as a product of bourgeois culture. Constructivism is an ideology that emerged in proletarian Russia during the revolution, and how any ideology can be viable and not built on sand, only when it creates a consumer for itself; therefore, the task of constructivism is the organization of communist life through the creation of a constructive person". The issue also features chronicles of art life - exhibitions, new books, tours of poets and writers, theatre performances; reviews and critical articles. For example an interesting article by I.G. Sviridov on the constructivist production of "Tarelkin's Death" which was staged in 1922 at GITIS by Meyerhold with co-director S. Eisenstein and widely criticized in the press. Worldcat locates a copy at Amherst College Library. [TCHAIKOVSKY] 1812. Torzhestvennaya uvertura dlia bolshogo orkestra, sochinennaya po sluchaiu osvescheniya Khrama Spasitelia. Op. 49 [i.e. 1812. The festive ouverture for the grand orchestra, performed on the occasion of the consecration of the cathedral of Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]
Moscow: Yurgenson, [1883]. 21 pp. 32,5x25 cm. Original chromolithographed wrappers. Mild restoration of the spine, minor foxing, otherwise very good. First edition. The sketch of the newly built cathedral on the front wrapper. The score was printed for the first performance of the overture, on the 20th of August, 1883, conducted by Ippolit Altani, and performed in the Cathedral itself. This 15-minute piece became one of the most famous creations in composer's career. The building of the Cathedral became one of the most ambitious and long architectural constructions in Moscow in 19th century. Originally started in 1817 to commemorate the 5-th anniversary of 1812 campaign, the construction was postponed in the 1820s because the place chosen was not suited for the building of that altitude. In 1839 the new foundation was laid and the work began. The project designed by Konstrantin Ton was mostly executed under the supervision of his student Iosef Kaminskiy. The scale of the decorating involved the best artists, including Surikov, Kramskoy, Vereschagin. Specially for the purpose of delivering the marble from the Northern provinces of Russia Ekaterinenskiy channel was built, that connected Moscow river and Volga. It's worth remembering that 80 years later another channel was dug, Moskva-Volga, serving the same purpose, but in the different circumstances in 1937, as a part of Soviet reconstruction of the country, and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour was already blown up at that time. The cathedral was opened the same day Alexander III was coronated, the 103-meter cathedral became the most spacious church in the country and the tallest building in Moscow. The cathedral was blown up in 1931 as a symbolic gesture of the fight against the religion in USSR. It was planned to build the greatest architecture projects of the 1930s - The Palace of Soviets on its place. The Palace was never built, instead in 1958 the open-air pool Moskva has been constructed. In 1994-1999 the Cathedral was built again. [ON SATURN] Sur les Dimensions des Anneaux de Saturne // Memoires de L’Academie Imperiale des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg. Sixieme Serie. Sciences Mathematique et Physiques. Tome V. [i.e. The Dimensions of the Rings of Saturn // Memoirs of Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. 6 series. Mathematics and Physics. Vol. 5]
St. Petersburg: de L'Imprimerie de L'Academie Imperiale des Sciences, 1853. 403-548, [2] pp. 4vo. Original blue wrappers with a decorative border on the covers. Uncut. A very good copy. The front cover detached from the spine, tears on the spine and covers, two spots on the end cover. Rare. First and only edition. Report on discovering and measuring the Saturn rings. Otto Vasilevich Struve (1819-1905) was a Russian astronomer, a leading member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, second in the unique astronomical dynasty which lasted for more than a century. He started working with his father at Pulkovo Observatory and headed it between 1862 and 1889. The American astronomer Benjamin Gould said that Struve made Pulkovo Observatory "the astronomical capital of the world". Struve discovered more than 500 double stars, observed planets and their satellites, comets and nebulae. He won the Gold Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1850. Among his many achievements he also measured the rings of Saturn and discovered (in parallel with other researchers and almost at the same time) the dark inner ring of Saturn. Struve also devised the ring naming system still used today. It is interesting that Otto was the first scientist of the Struve family to visit the United States. The visit served several purposes, not only providing an opportunity to purchase optics for the new 30-inch telescope in Pulkovo, but more significantly it was a part of a long-term Russia-US astronomy partnership during the 19th century. As a result of Struve's initiative, two US astronomers were appointed Foreign Members of the Russian Academy of Sciences. [USA HISTORY BY FIRST RUSSIAN LIBRARIAN IN AMERICA] Istoriya Severo-Amerikanskikh soedinyonnykh shtatov. V 2 t. [i.e. The History of Northern-American United States. In 2 vols]
St. Petersburg: tip. Trenke i Fyusno, 1912. Item #94 V.1: 1607-1826. [8], 493 pp. V.2: 1829-1910. [4], 471 pp., 1 map. 20,5x13,3 cm. In two modern half-leather bindings. Original front wrappers preserved. Cut, light foxing of the covers. Otherwise a fine crispy copy. Rare. First edition. First thorough history written by Russian. Alexey Vasilyevich Babin (1866-1930), Russian historian, library scientists, bibliographer became one of the first librarians who developed American-Russian cultural and library relationship in the end of 19th century. He is one of the pioneers of American studies in Russia. Babin went to the USA in 1889 where he was accepted to Cornell University. He graduated with a degree in history. To pay for his education he worked in university library and became a professional librarian during these years. In 1902 he was invited to work in the Library of Congress as curator of Slavic literature. He was the first Russian specialist to work there. One of the most important periods of his time in Library was when he participated in buying a famous book collection of Siberian merchant G.V. Yudin in 1906. Babin was the key intermediary in this process and among other things made a catalog of the collection in Russian and English which included more than 100 000 volumes. Yudin's collection became keystone of Slavic department of the Library of Congress while Babin became the head of this department. Before his death in 1930 he signed his will in which he left everything to the Library for further development of Slavic department. He was one of the first Russian immigrants to gain scientific recognition. While he was in USA he corresponded with his Russian colleagues. During his visits he shared the information on conditions of American book and library business. He went back to Russia for some time working in different areas including even teaching English. He also wrote this book on history of the United States. Even though Yudin didn't get the full previously agreed payment and books were not kept in one place as he requested, they remained friends and Yudin acted as his publisher in 1912. Among chapters of this edition are The Discovery of America, Virginia, New England in 1765, Constitution, Washington's Ruling 1789-1797, Unites States in 1910 etc. The edition is supplied with bibliography, index, chart on president's election (with number of votes), chart on US territories (size and population), chart on each state (the time of entry, size and population). The map depicts the growth of the USA since 1776 to 1867. WorldCat locates four copies. Sergey Korolev’s signature and corrections on a technical paper ”Specifications of the electric equipment of a glider plane SK-7”
14 of July, 1935. [3] pp. Fine condition. Light tears of the edges. Sergey Korolev (1906-1966) was the Soviet engineer and spacecraft designer who now considered the father of practical astronautics and the founder of the Soviet space program. He led Soviet efforts to build and test the nation's first rockets in the 1930s and was later responsible for building the Vostok capsule used for the first human spaceflight by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin in 1961. Korolev is credited with many technological discoveries that became widely used in space exploration and military defence.Like in Germany and United Stated the Russian organizations by the early 1930s were testing liquid-fueled rockets of increasing size. Reaction Propulsion Scientific Research Institute developed a series of rocket-propelled missiles and gliders during the 1930s, culminating in Korolev's RP-318, Russia's first rocket propelled aircraft. It started in 1934 when he developed a project (at that time SK) for so called 'planerlet' (motor glider) - a heavier-than-air aircraft with eight seats and low-power engine without independent takeoff. The idea of creating such an apparatus was based on the growing need of national economy in aircrafts. A planerlet was supposed to combine advantages of a plane and a glider.Korolev was working on his project mostly by himself in the evenings and at nights. He was almost seriosly considering that one doesn't need to sleep every night. With the help of a few other engineers the first construction was soon finished and successfully tested. Later newly developed SK-9 became the basis for Korolev's project of a rocket-powered aircraft. [HOW TO MAKE NEWSPAPERS] Tekhnika vypuska gazety: Posobie dlia gazetnykh tekhnikumov [i.e. Newspaper Production Technology: Textbook for Newspaper Technical Colleges]. With: Furman, G. Kak sostavit’ prom nplan gazety [i.e. How to Make a Financial Plan of Newspaper]. Pp. 126-132
Moscow; Leningrad: Gizlegprom, 1932. 132, [2] pp.: ill. 22x15 cm. In original photomontage wrapper. Small parts of spine missing, general rubbing of the wrapper, private library ink stamp and pencil inscription on the title page. Otherwise very good. One of 8200 copies. Rare. First edition. Very interesting edition with many drawings, photographs, schemes, examples of newspaper pages, layouts and headlines, examples of types and photo montages for newspapers, etc. Besides being a great textbook and evidence of the time (a newspaper being one of the most vivid representations of its era) it is also an example of early 1930s book design with its plain lines and especially title page styled for layout of newspaper strips (also shown in the book). The contents of the text are no less interesting: principles of designing newspaper, fonts, mechanization of letterpress printing, photomontage, layouts, how to shorten texts, semantic breakdown of headings, corrections, how to make local newspapers, etc. This information is applicable for magazines as well so these are the explained techniques used for making some of the best Soviet printed press. No copies in WorldCat. [HISTORY OF SOCIALISM] Istoriya sotsializma v Soedinyonnykh Shtatakh / Per. s 4 amer. izd. M.I. Bragina [i.e. History of Socialism in the United States / Translated from the 4th American edition by M.I. Bragin]
St. Petersburg: Tip. t-va ''Obshchestvennaya pol'za'', 1907. X, [2], 275 pp. 23x16 cm. Original wrappers. Uncut copy. Very good. Few tears of the spine, lacking small piece from the top of the spine. First Russian edition. Morris Hillquit (1869-1933) was a founder and leader of the Socialist Party of America and prominent labor lawyer in New York City's Lower East Side. Hillquit was a pioneer historian of the American radical movement, publishing a first serious academic history of socialism in 1903 entitled History of Socialism in the United States. The book would be issued in five English-language editions during Hillquit's lifetime and would be translated into a number of the primary languages of the American socialist movement, including German, Russian, Yiddish, Finnish, and Polish. Two main documents are published in this book - program of the Socialist Party and Socialist Worker's Party. There was an increasing interest in Socialist movement in USA when this book was first published. This book was published in the year the first Russian Revolution started by two major socialist parties in 1905 was ended. [FIRST SHORT STORY BY TOLSTOY] Nabeg. Rasskaz volontiora // Sovremennik. Tom 39 [i.e. The Raid // The Contemporary. Vol. 39]
Pp. 93-120. 24x15 cm. Modern binding, two last leaves (Contents) with restoration, one page with small loss of the text (not Tolstoy). Otherwise very good. First publication of 'The Raid' and second publication of anything by Tolstoy. The story is based on Tolstoy's own experience as an artillery cadet stationed in the Caucuses. Tolstoy was working on the story from May to December of 1852, and original title and idea were changing through that time. But once he finished it he asked Nekrasov ('The Contemporary' editor) not to censor it or if not possible to return it. Tolstoy was right, The Raid was censored but Nekrasov still published it and it's signed 'L.T'. [FIRST OF SEVASTOPOL SKETCHES] Sevastopol’ v dekabre mesiatse // Sovremennik. #6 [i.e. Sevastopol in December // The Contemporary. #6]
St. Petersburg: 1855. Pp. 333-348. 24x15 cm. Modern binding. Original printed wrapper preserved. Some soiling and stains of some pages, pen marks on the front wrapper, occasional foxing. Otherwise very good. First publication. The short story was based on Tolstoy's first impressions from being in Sevastopol in November 1854 when there was pause in active military actions. He had the first idea for an essay on Sevastopol at the time, and he started to work on it in 1855 (first draft title was 'Sevastopol in Different Phases, and Idyll of Officer's Life'). It was published with a notice that author is going to send new stories about Sevastopol every month. Even though censor corrections were made, the story was signed by Tolstoy and publication was very warmly reviewed. This work and the whole Sevastopol sketches series was an important step towards the development of Tolstoy's realism and an experience as war correspondent and journalist. [FIRST BOOK BY LANDAU] Elektroprovodimost’ metallov [i.e. The Metal Conductivity]
60 pp. 18x13 cm. 1 of 3000 copies. Original publisher's wrappers. Front wrapper is slightly rubbed. Otherwise a near fine copy, partly uncut. Extremely rare. The first printed book by Nobel laureate Lev Davydovich Landau (1908-1968) best known for his contributions in the field of condensed matter physics. When he was 24 years old he was appointed as a head of the theoretic department of Kharkiv Physico-Technic University where he started to give seminars. This book was published during Landau's years in Kharkiv. It was three years later when Landau was caught by KGB handling anti-Soviet brochures that were labeling Stalin as fascist. Pyotr Kapitsa managed to save young talented physicist from inevitable imprisonment - that was almost impossible in the late 1930s. Despite all that Lev Landau continued his work on the different states of the matter to come to revolutionary results in his research of liquid helium in 1940s. No copies found outside of Russia. [SECHENOV ON NERVOUS SYSTEM] Fiziologiya nervnoy sistemy [i.e. Physiology of the nervous system]
Sechenov, I. [2],vi, [2], 503, [1], xii pp.: ill., 1 ill. 22x15 cm. With 1 folding engraved plate and 37 illustrations in text. Contemporary half-leather binding. Rubbings and occasional foxing, owner's signature on the title-page. Very good. First edition. One of the fundamental works by Ivan Sechenov (1829-1905) the teacher of Ivan Pavlov. In this book Sechenov emathised that not only anatomical approach to nervious system is important. For the first time Sechenov describes the mechanism of central inhibition in the brain. Rare in good condition.- $2,000
- $2,000
[THE CRUISE OF THE ALABAMA] Kreiserstvo Semtera i Alabamy. Per. s angl. Sost. po lichnomu dnevniku i prochim materialam kap. R. Semza i drugikh ofitserov ekipazha [i.e. The Cruise of the Alabama and the Sumter. Translated from English. Compiled from Personal Diary and Other Documents of Captain R. Semmes and Other Crew Officers]
VIII, 490 pp. 25x18 cm. Later cloth binding. Owner's signature on the last page, very rare light foxing. Otherwise a near fine crispy copy. First edition. Interesting book regarding the influence of American navy on Russian naval system. Raphael Semmes (1809-1877) was a captain of the commerce raider Alabama during the American Civil War. He was later promoted to rear admiral and also served briefly as a brigadier general in the Confederate army. This book was compiled from the diary and other documents of captain Semmes. It contains description of events took place during the Civil War. Also it bears a few supplements: Sumter and Alabama's prizes, Alabama's measurements, correspondence about Tuscaloosa and others. It was translated and published in Russian possibly because of its high relevance in Russia at that time. Fleet of the Northern States in the beginning of the war started to block Southern coast and in 1864-1865 southerns had to stop the trade. Southerns couldn't create a strong fleet to compete with Northern so they focused on the struggle for water communications by sending attacking cruisers. One of the first such privateer was CSS Sumter, the merchant steamship purchased by the Confederate Government in April 1861 and captured 18 ships by February 1862. Unable to repair it confederates ordered a new steam boat Alabama. This cruise ship captured 68 Northern ships in two years. In general all Confederate cruisers were able to capture or sink about 200 merchant US ships but it didn't cause much damage to the merchant fleet of the opponent. The effect caused by Confederate cruise privateers was quite big in the world. They were not too fast and had their disadvantages but had its influence on shipbuilders across the world immensely. These ships also had influence on the American expedition of Russian fleet. Two Russian squadrons were situated near American costs during in 1863-64. They were supposed to attack British trading ships in case of the war. But British authorities were very impressed by Russian cruisers in New York and San-Francisco which led to collapse of anti-Russian coalition. American Expedition approved the doctrine of cruisers' war in Russian navy which defined Russian shipbuilding until the beginning of the 20th century. [FIRST BOOK IN RUSSIAN ABOUT BYRON] Zapiski o lorde Bairone [i.e. Journal of the Conversations of Lord Byron]: [In 2 vols]
Vol.1. [4], VIII, 197 pp., [1] front.; Vol.2. [4], 153 pp. 8vo. Lord Byron's portrait on the frontispiece. Two volumes in contemporary quarter-leather bindings, with gilt-lettering on spines. Labels on spines, some rubbings to covers, pre-revolutionary library stamps (Tallinn), foxing. Rare, especially with the portrait. This is the first edition of the work by Thomas Medwin which was noted during a residence with Byron at Pisa in 1821-1822. This is also a first book in Russian about Lord Byron. Thomas Medwin (1788-1869), poet, Percy Shelley's cousin and close friend of Lord Byron. Published in late October 1824, Medwin's Journal of the Conversations of Lord Byron was the first of the book-length memoirs to appear following Byron's death in April. The influence of Byron in Russia is difficult to underestimate. Almost all of the notable poets of the first half of XIX century were influenced by him; his books were translated during his lifetime and afterwards. Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) was influenced by Byron. He was interested in reading this book as soon as it came out. He asked his brother to send him a copy to Mikhailovskoe in 1825 but the censor committee didn't allow the distribution of both the English and French versions of the text. The first Russian translation came out 10 years later and the same year Pushkin wrote an article On Byron and significant things presumably influenced by this book that was in his library (Modzalevsky.696). WorldCat locates no copies in USA.- $2,700
- $2,700
[RUSSIA – MOSCOW] [Album with Fifty Original Gelatin Silver Photographs of Pre-Revolutionary Tsarist Moscow, Showing the Now-Destroyed Sukharev Tower and Alexander II Monument, Tsar Bell & Canon, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Morozov Mansion, St. Clement’s Church, Kremlin Tower, etc.; Individual and Group Portraits of Monk Beggars, Grenadiers, Cossacks, Police Officers, and Troika Drivers, and Scenes from Easter Bazaar, Parade, etc.; also, with the Photos of the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius in Sergiyev Posad and the Now-Destroyed Gethsemane Chernigov Skete]
Ca. 1905. Oblong Quarto album (ca. 12x26,5 cm). 12 card stock leaves. With 49 mounted and one loosely inserted photograph from ca. 5,5x8,3 cm (2 ¼ x 3 ¼ in) to ca. 6,2x8,8 cm (2 ½ x 3 ½ in). All photos but two with captions on the mounts (Swedish). Period olive green full cloth binding with gilt lettering on the front board. One leaf slightly worn, several photos with mild silvering, but overall a very good album with strong interesting photos. Historically interesting collection of lively vernacular photographs taken by a Swedish traveler during his/her trip to pre-revolutionary Moscow in the early-1900s. The compiler was apparently a close friend or relative of Vera Bogdanova (1888-?), who was the granddaughter of Alexander Friedrich von Lieven (1801-1880), a Baltic German infantry general and Governor of Taganrog. The photographs were likely taken and collected during the compiler's stay with Bogdanova's family in Moscow. The collection features fifty vibrant views of Russia, with ca. forty excellent photographs showing Tsarist Moscow. Ten well-executed close-up photos depict Cathedral of Christ the Savior (exterior and altar), St. Clement's Church, Kremlin tower, Tsar Bell & Canon, Iberian Gate & Chapel, Saint Basil's Cathedral (under restoration), Morozov Mansion, "My residence," and the now-destroyed Sukharev tower and Monument of Alexander II. Several candid urban scenes vividly portray parishioners in the courtyard of the Church of the Twelve Apostles awaiting the holy oil, locals bustling through a festive Easter bazaar near the Kremlin, and carriages parading on Red Square during Palm Sunday. Especially interesting are eleven individual and group portraits of a police officer (with clearly visible Russian signs of "Passage of the Dzhamgarov Brothers," "G. Moret's Store," and "S. Siu & Co." confectionery in the background), beggar woman in rags, Alexander II's grenadier with a bearskin, a boy in chokha, "My teacher" with a bear, Cossacks riding through the streets, troika drivers, monk beggars, etc. There are also about eight excellent aerial views of Moscow (from the Church of the Savior, Tower of Ivan the Great, and Sparrow Hills), close-up street views of the Kremlin Embankment, Ilyinka, and Volkhonka Streets, and a photo of a steamer, which the compiler likely used to reach Russia. About ten photographs capture the compiler's visit to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius in Sergiyev Posad, showing detailed views of the now-destroyed Gethsemane Chernigov Skete, the Trinity Monastery, and the surrounding Lavra area. The rest of the photos mostly show Vera Bogdanova smiling with dolls, the compiler's Swedish companions posing near the monastery and enjoying a feast. Overall, historically interesting album documenting pre-revolutionary Tsarist Moscow.- $650
- $650
[MOLDAVIAN BIBLE] Bibliya, adek, Dumnezeyaska skriptur Aletsii veki shi acheii Noao [i.e. The Bible, translated into Moldavian language. The Old and New Testaments]
St. Petersburg: Nik. Gretch, 1819. 1249, 303 pp. 23x13,5 cm. Printed in 5000 copies.Original full leather with the blind stamp of the Bible Society on the front cover. Binding is rubbed, but otherwise in a good condition. The first attempt to translate the Bible into Moldavian, prepared by the Russian Bible Society. It was based on the Biblia de la Blaj, published in 1795, the second complete translation into Romanian, made by the Samuil Micu-Klein. The current edition has been corrected in accordance with the requirements of the Most Holy Governing Synod of Russian Orthodox Church. Although the text remained very close to Miku-Klein's translation, it has some grammatical and editorial differences, and the publication itself was obviously aimed at distribution in Bessarabia, annexed to the Russian Empire in 1812. During the reign of Alexander I (which spanned 1801 to 1825) Russia enjoyed unprecedented religious tolerance. The Russian Bible Society (Rossiysokoe Bibleyskoe Obschestvo) was founded in St Petersburg in 1812. Led by count Alexander Nikolaevitch Golitsyn (1773-1844) it has declared its main purpose by translating the Bible into Russian. Up until that time the only officially allowed language of the Bible and any religious texts was Old Church Slavonic, that was not understood well by the majority of population of Russia. The Society was aimed to change that - and spread the Holy Scripture across the Empire. What is more unprecedented is that the Society had representatives from different Churches, not only the Russian Orthodox Church: it has included Anglican, Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed Church members. That allowed those churches to participate in translation of the Bible not to Russian, but to the other languages, spoken in the Russian Empire and send out its missionaries to the country. The society has called the Kishinev metropolitan Gavriil Bandulesku-Bodoni to organize the transition. As a result, Mikhail Kruplenskiy, archimandrite Varlaam (of Dobrovetskiy monastery) together with Gavrill undertook this task and in 1817 the New Testament was printed. The current edition followed, both of them were based on the Miku-Klein's translation. In 1812 big part of Moldova became the province of Russian Empire (Bessarabskaya guberniya). The Emperial policy was to separate the Moldavian and Romanian tradition as much as possible, including the language, that was seen at the time as independent. For that purpose the Russian-Moldavian Grammar was printed as well as the several other books. However in 1830-40s the Moldavian language was actively replaced by Russian and by 1866 the teaching and studying of Moldavian language was banned.- $1,300
- $1,300
[INTERVIEW WITH STALIN] Beseda tovarishcha Stalina s predsedatelem amerikanskogo gazetnogo ob”yedineniya “Skripps-Govard n’yuspeypers” gospodinom Roy Govardom 1-go marta 1936 goda [i.e. Comrade Stalin’s Conversation with the Chairman of the American Newspaper Association Scripps-Howard Newspapers, Mr. Roy Howard, March 1, 1936]
Moscow: Partizdat, 1936. 24 pp.: portr. 13x18.9 cm. In original publisher's printed wrappers. Foxing of the wrappers. Otherwise in a very good condition. Scarce. This is the text of the interview given by Joseph Stalin to Roy Howard (1883-1964), American journalist and the chairman of Scripps Howard Newspapers. On March 1, 1936, Stalin granted an interview to Roy Horward, which, unlike his earlier exchanges with foreigners, he allowed to be published in mass-circulation newspapers. In the famous interview, the Soviet leader talked about Soviet Union's relationship with Japan, the inevitability of war, fascism, the importance of Franco-Soviet pact, relations between the USSR and the United States, and the "most democratic constitution in the world" or the 1936 Constitution of the Soviet Union, which at the time of the interview was in its development stage. The Constitution was adopted on December 6, 1936, and asserted the leading role of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and legally cemented the totalitarian control of the party by General Secretary Joseph Stalin preceding the Great Purge. Interestingly, the next day after the interview, Howard discovered that the conversation had been "edited" by Kremlin authorities. When Stalin saw the original draft, he ordered Howard's version restored. The brochure contains the text of one of the most famous interviews of the 20th century.- $350
- $350
[NEW YORK’S WORKERS EDITION] Lipochka Popovna
Novokreschensky, O. [Valentina Dmitryeva] [New York]: Rabocheye knigoizdatel'stvo, 1912. 64 pp. 13.8x20.4 cm. Loss of the pieces of the spine, tears to the wrappers. Otherwise good. Scarce. First edition. A short story about Lipochka Popovna, the daughter of a priest, who becomes a victim of the Tsarist regime. The story was written by Valentina Dmitryeva (1859-1947), a Russian/Soviet writer, teacher, medical doctor and revolutionary. In 1873, she was admitted to the Tambov Girl's Secondary School. After graduating, Valentina took a job as a teacher in a village school, one of the few positions open to womxen, and published articles in the press about the poor state of public education. She was dismissed from her post after writing a critical letter to the authorities, and prohibited from teaching. Dmitryeva spent almost as much time aiding revolutionary activists as she did on her studies, allowing her room to be used for storing illegal literature and as a safe house for wanted revolutionaries. In the early 1900s, Valentina travelled abroad where she was able to publish her anti-Tsarist work Lipochka Popovna in 1902 (Paris). The edition, which was illegally transported to Russia, became Dmitryeva's most famous book.- $550
- $550
[SOVIET SHEET MUSIC DESIGN: NATIVE AMERICANS] The Mississippi Song
Nossowker, J. Leningrad: Izdanie avtora, [1920s]. 4 pp.: music score. 36x27,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Tears of edges, corners chipped, some pale water stains, two Leningrad and Tbilisi bookstore stamps on back cover, otherwise good. One of 1000 copies. An early Soviet sheet music brochure with an excellent cover design. It is a part of an international song repertoire published in the 1920s. In that decade, all music genres were issued, including officially forbidden foreign dance music and national motifs of different ethnic groups. This particular brochure introduced music from far America. The avant-garde design was created in red and black inks. Painting the skin of a couple in red, the artist didn't color their clothes and showed the difference between them in textile ornaments. Since the early years, the USSR positioned itself as the state with a friendly attitude towards all ethnic groups repressed in the bourgeois world, including African-Americans and Native Americans. However, sheet music designs featuring their images were not common. Worldcat shows copies located in Princeton and Columbia Universities.- $550
- $550
[AYN RAND] Gollivud, amerikanskiy kino-gorod [i.e. Hollywood, An American Movie-City]
Rosenbaum, A. Moscow; Leningrad: Kinopechat', 1926. 48 pp.: ill., portr., ads . 16.5x13 cm. Original photomontage wrappers. Very good, staples slightly rusty. First edition. Scarce. This is the second and the last book written by the famous Russian-American writer and philosopher Ayn Rand (1905-1982) before emigrating to the United States of America. On October 2, 1921, Alisa Rosenbaum enrolled at the Petrograd University in the department of social pedagogy that combined history, philology, and law. Along with many other bourgeois students (Alisa was to a Russian-Jewish bourgeois family), she was purged from the university shortly before graduating. After complaints from a group of visiting foreign scientists, however, many of the purged students were allowed to complete their work and graduate, which she did in October 1924. Alisa then continued her studies at the State Technicum for Screen Arts, where she, as a part of an assignment, wrote a 2,500- word monograph on the Polish actress Pola Negri. In 1925, her writing came out as a separate edition in the Popular Cinema Library series. A year later, Alisa printed her second and the last work Hollywood, An American Movie-City before emigrating to the United States. She became a permanent American resident in July 1929 and an American citizen on March 3, 1931. Rand's first literary success came with the sale of her screenplay Red Pawn to Universal Studios in 1932, although it was never produced. This was followed by the courtroom drama Night of January 16th, first produced by E. Clive in Hollywood in 1934 and then successfully reopened on Broadway in 1935. After two early novels that were initially unsuccessful, she achieved fame with her 1943 novel, the Fountainhead. In 1957, Rand published her best-known work, the novel Atlas Shrugged. Afterward, she turned to non-fiction to promote her philosophy, publishing her own periodicals and releasing several collections of essays until her death in 1982. This edition, with remarkable photomontage wrappers and illustrations throughout, is dedicated to 'the city of happiness' - Hollywood and the 1920s movie industry stars.- $1,950
- $1,950
[THE CHERRY ORCHARD IN KHARKIV] Dramaturgiya Chekhova : K postanovke p’yesy «Vishnevyy sad» v Khar’k. teatre dramy [i.e. Chekhov’s Dramaturgy: «The Cherry Orchard» on the Stage of the Kharkov Theatre of the Russian Drama]
Balukhaty, S., Petrov, N. [Kharkiv]: Khar'k. teatr rus. dramy, 1935. 206, [2] pp., 3 ill.: ill. 20x14 cm. In original publisher's cloth binding. Fine condition. Scarce. First edition. 1 of 3,200 copies. Binding and bass-relief of Anton Chekhov by the noted Russian graphic artist and book illustrator Vladimir Konashevich (1888-1963). In the period from 1922 to 1924, Vladimir was the member of Mir Iskusstva artistic organization and later the Society of Painters. After changing a number of occupations in the 1920s, Konashevich finally focused his interests on graphic art and started collaborating with different publishing houses including Raduga [i.e. Rainbow]. Some of his most famous works in book design include Korney Chukovsky's Mukha-Tsokotukha [i.e. Fly Tsokotukha] (1924), Samuil Marshak's Pozhar [i.e. Fire], etc. The Cherry Orchard (1903) was the last play written by the noted Russian playwright Anton Chekhov (1860-1904). It was first published in Znaniye (Book Two, 1904) almanac and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Publishers. The play revolved around an aristocratic Russian landowner who returned to the family estate (which included a large and well-known cherry orchard) just before it was auctioned to pay the mortgage. The Cherry Orchard premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre on 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Konstantin Stanislavski (1863-1938) and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (1858-1943). Widely regarded as a classic of 20th-century theatre, the play is identified as one of the four outstanding plays by Chekhov, along with The Seagull, Three Sisters, and Uncle Vanya. This book was published on the occasion of the production of the Cherry Orchard at the Kharkov Theatre of the Russian Drama by the Soviet theatre director Nikolay Petrov (1890-1964) in 1935. The edition contains four articles: Chekhov's Dramaturgy by the Soviet literary critic Sergey Balukhaty (1893-1945), About the Cherry Orchard by Nikolay Petrov (the director of the play at the Kharkov Theatre in 1935), Bibliography by the Soviet literary critic Ksenya Muratova (1904-1998), and an Appendix to Balukhaty's article. In the book, the authors offer readers a general outline of Chekhov's dramaturgy and a detailed description of the play The Cherry Orchard. The text starts with Chekhov's biographical brief and proceeds with the examination of his plays from the earliest through the latest: Bezottsovshina [i.e. Fatherless], humorous one-act plays of vaudeville, the play Ivanov, Leshy [i.e. The Wood Demon], Chayka [i.e. The Seagull], Dyadya Vanya [i.e. Uncle Vanya], Tri Sestry [i.e. Three Sisters], and Vishnevyy sad [i.e. The Cherry Orchard]. The edition features lesser-known correspondence between Chekhov and Stanislavsky (founder of the Moscow Art Theatre), the director Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko (founder of the Moscow Art Theatre), O. Knipper (Chekov's wife), etc. The letters reveal interesting details regarding Chekhov's work on the plays and show the playwright's concerns about the production of The Cherry Orchard in the Moscow Art Theatre. The text reveals the correlation between the dramaturgical style of the playwright and the socio-political changes in different time periods. Special attention is given to Chekhov's last play, which according to the authors greatly influenced Russian theatre and bolstered the introduction of original stage principles as well as the new perception of directors' work in the theatre. The edition features a bibliography of works dedicated to the playwright and includes numerous black and white illustrations showing Chekhov, his correspondence with Nemirovich-Danchenko and scenes from his plays staged at different times at the Moscow Art Theatre. Overall, an interesting study of the dramaturgy of one of the greatest playwrights in world theatre history.- $450
- $450
![[ACTING MASTERY] Akter pered kino-apparatom [i.e. Actor in Front of a Camera]](https://rarebookinsider.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/31932057365-600x900.jpg)
[ACTING MASTERY] Akter pered kino-apparatom [i.e. Actor in Front of a Camera]
Petrov, E. Moscow: Teackinopechat', 1929. 52 pp. 12.9x16.6 cm. In original publisher's wrappers. Age-toned. Otherwise near fine. Second revised edition. First edition printed in 1926. This interesting book about acting mastery and the ways of its improvement was compiled by the noted Soviet writer, playwright, and journalist Evgeny Petrov (1902-1942) in 1929. The edition serves as a kind of manual for actors and offers detailed instructions on how to act in front of a camera. The book consists of three main sections: techniques, actor, and school. The first section of the publication is dedicated to the technical side of cinematography and elaborates upon such topics as the brief history of film, movie stock, film camera, video projector, film editing, etc. In the second section, the author offers numerous recommendations for actors on how to properly act in front of a camera. According to Petrov, a movie actor needs to have an accurate orientation to the camera, light, footage, etc., and present reality in an organized manner, clearly remembering the boundaries of the frame. Other advices include adhering to the composition of the frame, selecting costumes according to the law of identifying colors, detailed knowledge of favorable lighting of one's face, etc. The third and final section of the book features information about the ways of improving acting mastery. After underlying the importance of inner rhythm and actor-director relationship, the author advises actors to pay attention to their physical culture and to improve their acting skills based on such movies as Chaplin's A Woman of Paris (1923), D. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919), etc. Evgeny Petrov was a popular author in the 1920s and 1930s Soviet Union. He often worked in collaboration with Ilya Ilf (1897-1937) with whom he wrote Dvenadtsat stulyev [i.e. The Twelve Chairs], released in 1928, and its sequel, Zolotoy telyonok [i.e. The Little Golden Calf], released in 1931. From the late 1920s to 1937, the co-authors wrote several theatrical plays and screenplays, as well as many humorous short stories and satirical articles in the magazines: Chudak, 30 days, Krokodil, Ogoniok, and the newspapers Pravda, Literaturnaya Gazeta, etc. Following Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union, Petrov became a war correspondent. He was killed in a plane crash while returning from besieged Sevastopol. Worldcat shows one copy of the edition at University of Arizona Libraries.- $450
- $450
