The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, Mikhail - 1967

New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1967. First edition thus. Fine/Fine. First Harper and Row edition, and the first US translation by Michael Glenny. This translation follows the Mirra Ginsburg translation, but is generally considered the richer of the two early translations into English, as Ginsburg used an abridged version of the work. A Fine copy in like dust jacket and quite desirable in this condition.

This book is the author's masterpiece and considered by many the finest novel to come out of Russia in the twentieth century. Started in 1928, Bulgakov burned the manuscript in 1930, only to re-write and revise it for the next ten years until his death. A socio-political satire oscillating between two realities, one where the Devil and his entourage take a flat in 1930s Russia and wreak havoc on society in a series of amusing escapades, the second in Pontius Pilot's Jerusalem, where he condemns Jesus, despite grave misgivings. A work of unique humor and profound insight, it builds upon the great 19th century Russian predecessors and is now a foundation of the modern Russian literary canon. Fine in Fine dust jacket.