Search Results: Authors starting with A from PY Rare Books

This work delves into the infamous case of Menahem Mendel Beilis, a Russian Jew (1874-1934) who stood accused of ritual murder in Kiev in 1911. The prosecution alleged that the murder of the 13-y. old child Iushchinskii was a religious ritual, drawing connections to the blood libel, a widespread legend that many Russians believed during that time. Beilis endured over two years of imprisonment awaiting trial, during which an anti-Semitic campaign raged in the Russian press. Despite the lengthy trial, Beilis was eventually acquitted, but the legal proceedings shed light on the prevailing issue of anti-Semitism within the Russian Empire, sparking international criticism.
Published more than 20 years after the events and the judgement, this scarce pamphlet is part of the series 'Biblioteka Russkago Natsionalista', published in Shanghai by the Russian Fascist Party, a minor Russian émigré movement based in Manchukuo during the 1930s and 1940s. Among the works advertised on the lower wrapper we find 'What… Read More

A presentation copy of the first expanded edition, inscribed by Akhmatova to her editor and co-translator, the linguist Aleksandr Kholodovich: 'As a memento of that time when we worked on this book. Amicably, Akhmatova, 15 January 1959'.
This edition adds 37 poems to the edition issued in 1956. Akhmatova worked on all 212 poems in this collection: Kholodovich prepared a preliminary translation, which Akhmatova then translated into appropriate verses. The demand for such a niche subject, prompting an expanded edition so soon after the first, may reflect general interest in Korea following the war on the peninsula; but more likely reflects the enduring demand for any work by Akhmatova, after she had been silenced for so long. With Stalin's death in 1953, the grip of totalitarianism loosened somewhat, and Akhmatova began to be given paid translation work.
ProvenanceAnna Akhmatova (presentation inscription in blue ink to:); Aleksandr Alekseevich Kholodovich (1906-1977, linguist); Robert Eden Martin (b.… Read More

An important study of central Siberia, containing extensive geological research into the vast territory from Lake Baikal towards the Arctic ocean.
Alexander Chekanovsky (1832-76) was of Polish origin. A geologist, ethnographer and researcher, he took part in the 1863 Polish uprising and, as a result, was exiled to Siberia. He took this as an opportunity to continue his scientific work. With the help and influence of Friedrich Schmidt - who wrote the preface of this Diary - Chekanovsky was transferred to Irkutsk and appointed to the Siberian Division of the Geographical Society in 1867. While in Irkutsk, he made several scientific discoveries which brought him fame in Russia, until his early death aged 44.
Published some 20 years after his death, this Diary is actually composed of several diaries, describing expeditions and observations on the three main rivers of the Central Siberian Plateau, where Chekanovsky discovered a ridge, eventually named after him: the Chekanovsky Ridge, in the Lena delta in… Read More

First edition of Solzhenitsyn's first published book: a celebrated "pirate" edition published abroad without the author's consent.

A very good example of the issue with the striking "bearded-man" cover, which Flegon used later in his own book about "the slanderer Solzhenitsyn". There was another cover published, showing a watchtower instead; there is no priority firmly established, the watchtower being possibly the first.
The plot of Solzhenitsyn's very first published novel is set in a Soviet labour camp in the 1950s and describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov.
The novel was specifically mentioned in the Nobel Prize presentation speech when the Nobel Committee awarded Solzhenitsyn the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970. After more than half a century since its publication the significance and influence of the deceptively simple story remains unsurpassed.
The novel first appeared in print in November 1962 in the Soviet literary magazine Novii Mir (New World). It was an… Read More

A fresh and uncut copy of the first edition of this rare, early, and illustrated account of Siberia and the Chinese border, unusually describing the second British mission in Russia and highly praised by contemporaries.During the winter 1823-24 Martos undertook a trip around Baikal from Krasnoiarsk to Maimachyn, a Chinese border town. In his book, written in the form of a diary, Martos provides a picturesque description of nature, life and culture in Eastern Siberia, populated predominantly with Buriats. Visiting salt, porcelain and fabrics factories the author witnessed the development of production and trade in the region. Martos focuses in particular on Irkutsk, giving not only statistical information on the city but also detailing its founding and further development. To Martos's own surprise he discovered a British mission in Seleginsk, a village on Eastern side of the Baikal, in the heart of Chinggis Khan's Motherland. It was formed by an Englishman and two Scottish with their… Read More

A detailed account of the Great Patriotic War by one of the most distinguished Russian military leaders.
The important émigré first edition, printed in London and forbidden in Russia. A very good example with the rare printed wrapper bound-in.
When Napoleon attacked Russia in 1812, Russian troops began to retreat to Moscow. It was a period full of intrigues and Yermolov (1777 –1861) was instrumental in resolving some of them, particularly a conflict between two of the most prominent generals, Barclay de Tolly and Bagration. As a chief of Barclay's staff, Yermolov covered up harsh words in their correspondence while appealing to Emperor Alexander I to replace Barclay de Tolly with Bagration.
Thanks to Yermolov's efforts, decision was taken to unite the First and the Second Armies for the successful defence of the city of Smolensk. Yermolov distinguished himself at the Battle of Borodino, where he was lightly wounded leading a counterattack that recaptured the Great Redoubt. For his courage, he… Read More

Fine example of the first edition of this celebrated artist's work, with the famous cover in fine condition.
In 1920, Altman was invited to the Kremlin to create a bronze portrait of Vladimir Lenin. To complete this task, he spent about six weeks with the Bolsheviks' leader, sketching his face and daily routine movements, such as sitting at the desk, reading, speaking on the phone and during meetings - apparently, Lenin did not have time or patience to deliberately pose for the portrait otherwise.The best sketches in preparation of the bronze bust eventually formed this booklet in which Lenin's facsimile signature is followed by ten reproductions of Altman's sketches: nine portraits and a view seen from the window of Lenin's office; each drawing is signed and dated "Nat. Altman, Moscow – Kremlin, May 1920". All the sketches are rendered in realist style, unusual for Altman's 1920s art which manifests itself in his design of the suprematist cover - a fine example of Soviet avant-garde book art.
Born… Read More

Long and detailed price list of tobacco products offered in Moscow during Pushkin's time, showing a broad and very international range.
Since English merchants introduced tobacco to Russians in the mid-16th century, this foreign product became extremely popular, from peasantry to the 18th-c. tsarinas. The new trend of smoking tobacco from a pipe was promoted by Alexander I, for whom the court would order one-meter-long pipes. Since that time, a chibouk, or Turkish-style pipe, together with an ottoman, a flat sofa with cushions, became an obligatory attribute of a nobleman. Alexander Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet and an amateur of tobacco, begins his depiction of Eugene Onegin's study with a pipe:
"A pipe of amber from Istanbul,
China and bronzes fill the table,
And to delight the sensual
Perfumes in finely-crafted crystal…"
Oddly enough, with such love for tobacco, Russia did not have its own tobacco industry until the early 19th century. Peter the Great attempted to organize the first tobacco… Read More