Doctor Zhivago. by PASTERNAK, Boris - [1959]

Milan: Feltrinelli,, [1959]. Octavo. Original pale green boards, titles to spine and front board in black. With the dust jacket designed by Ampelio Tettamanti. Foot of spine slightly worn, small crack to head of spine, board edges slightly faded, contents lightly foxed; an excellent copy in the bright jacket, with short closed tear to head of spine, a few nicks and shallow chips to extremities, and tape repairs to verso. First Feltrinelli edition in Russian (the third overall), first printing, issued in the very attractive and distinctive dust jacket designed by Ampelio Tettamanti (1914-1961), matching that of the first edition, published in Italian by Feltrinelli in 1957. Doctor Zhivago was deemed unfit for publication within the Soviet Union due to certain passages that were perceived as anti-Soviet. It was therefore first published in Italian by Feltrinelli in 1957 after Pasternak signed a contract with him on 30 June 1956, granting the Italian publisher the copyright for translation. This edition was published in late April or early May 1959, and is preceded by the almost unobtainable, CIA-sponsored edition (September 1958) and the US edition, published in Michigan in plain cloth without a dust jacket (January 1959). The history of the book's publication in Russian is somewhat tangled: the first edition in Russian was printed by the Dutch publisher Mouton under Feltrinelli's imprint but without Feltrinelli's permission, as part of a covert CIA publishing and propaganda program, and the US edition was likewise intended to be published without acknowledgement of Feltrinelli's copyright. However, after the legal furore surrounding the publication of the Dutch edition, that decision was reversed, and the US edition in Russian was subsequently published with Feltrinelli's full consent and collaboration. Feltrinelli intended to publish this edition concurrently with the US publication, but due to printing delays his book was not published in Italy until four months after it appeared in the US.