The remarkable CIA-backed first edition of a Nobel Prize

PASTERNAK, Boris

Doktor Zhivago
G. Feltrinelli, Milan [but Mouton, The Hague], 1958. £17,500

One of the most famous first editions of 20th-c. Russian literature: published by the CIA under a false imprint - or literature as a political weapon. A pleasant copy.

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First publication of the Cherry Orchard anywhere

CHEKHOV, Anton, Ivan BUNIN, Maksim GORKY and others

Sbornik Tovarishchestva "Znanie" za 1903 god [Collection of the "Knowledge" Society for the year 1903].
Isidor Goldberg, Skt. Peterburg, 1904. £2,950

Fine example of this literary almanac, rarer with both parts of 1903, including the very first publication of Chekhov's famous play. With other first publications by leading Russian authors of the time.

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"[One of the] pioneer female travelers to Georgia" (Skinner)

KEUN, Odette

Prince Tariel: A Story of Georgia
Jonathan Cape, London, 1925. £1,750

Suppressed and very rare first edition of this novel, written by an adventurous woman travelling in troubled times. Great book by a fascinating woman and a nice copy of it!

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One of only 100 copies - not only signed by Anthony, but inscribed by Haskell too

ANTHONY, Gordon and Arnold HASKELL

Ballet. Camera Studies
Bles, London, 1937. £1,250

Fine example of this classic record of the Ballets Russes, with the signatures of both authors, which is unusual.

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Dali's copy - with all copper plates and the book's maquette

[DALI] – ARRABAL, Fernando and Julius BALTAZAR [pseud. for Hervé LAMBION] (artist)

Cinco sonetos
Imprimerie Moderne de la Presse for André Biren, Paris, 1980. £4,250

Excellent, unique copy of this rare livre d'artiste, warmly inscribed to Dali, with much added material and in a fine Leroux binding. "Let us suppress all the excesses / murderers tyrants and alligators" (colophon)

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Manuscript copy of a hellish, banned satire

ASMODEUS [pseud. for Abbé Pierre QUESNEL]

Almanach du Diable contenant de prédictions tres curieuses et absolument infallibles pour l'année 1737
Aux Enfers, 1737. £5,000

A lovely object, the holograph copy of a blasphemous text written by a priest and suppressed in France upon publication in the late 1730s. The Devil's Almanac!

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A major publication, with impressive flow charts

BLOCH, Jean [also Ivan Stanislavovich BLIOKH]

Les Chemins de fer russes. Recettes et dépenses d'exploitation, prix de revient des transports et mouvement des marchandises
Varsovie, S. Orgenbrand Sons, and Lith. Faians for Gazeta Lekarskiéj, 1875. £22,500

A superb, innovative and fascinating publication, detailing and representing the statistics of what was becoming the largest railway network in the world. With 16 large flow maps, the first in the Russian empire. Extremely rare first edition, with no copies traced in Russia nor in the USA.

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Major avant-garde lithographs as scrap paper - with interesting notes

[GONCHAROVA, Natalia and Mikhail LARIONOV]

A Collection of Original Lithographs with Manuscript Notes
Moskva, 1913. £4,750

Fine group of important illustrations by Goncharova and Larionov, from the earliest days of Russian avant-garde, later used as scrap paper in Mayakovsky's circles.

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"The five-year plan for mastering the Arctic" (page 1)

LISSITZKY, El [Lazar Markovich] (designer)

USSR in Construction. The Arctic Issue (1933 No. 9)
The State Publishing Union of RSFSR, Moscow, 1933. £1,150

The famous Arctic issue of the main propaganda magazine from Soviet Union, designed by Lissitzky. A superb production, here in its English version and in fresh condition.

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Avant-garde women producing a rare children book

SINIAKOVA, M[ariia] (artist) and S[ofia] FEDORCHENKO

Dobryi son [Kind Dream/Nice Sleep]
Gos. izd., Moskva, 1930. £1,250

Very rare first edition of this children book: no copies traced outside Russia. A fine collaboration of two women active in circles of the Russian avant-garde.

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Fascinating and impressive panorama of Russian emigration in China

ZHIGANOV – JIGANOFF, Vladimir

Russkie v Shankhaie. Russians in Shanghai
Slovo, Shanghai, 1936. £5,750

Fantastic publication on the important Russian community in 1920s-30s Shanghai. Wide-ranging, very richly illustrated, with a wealth of fascinating details. A lovely copy of the first edition, scarce.

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One of the most impressive early illustrated Russian books

MALINOVSKII, Aleksei (editor)

Istoricheskoie opisanie drevniago rossiiskago muzeia pod nazvaniem masterskoi i oruzheiskoi palaty… [A Historical Account of the Museum of Ancient Russia known as the Workshop and Armoury Chamber. Part I (all published)]
Imp. Moskovsk. Univ., Moskva, 1807. £10,000

First edition of this important book, the first catalogue of the first Kremlin Museum. A large-format edition and one of the best early Russian illustrated books.

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