Boris Pasternak Dr Zhivago Mouton Feltrinelli rare unauthorized Russian 1st 1958

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Original Russian Language 1st (Pirate) Edition Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak Exceptionally rare 1st Russian language edition of a classic C20th novel, from this Nobel Prize winner. Almost unknown in this privately funded unofficial/pirate 1st Edition and quoted in some bibliographical articles as "unavailable". Highly desirable. Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Near Very Good condition. Owners signature to front endpaper. Light flecking to covers with minor bumping to corners. Several gatherings are evenly browned as usual, due to differing paper stocks used in printing. 634 p. Original publishers blue boards, lettered in gilt to the spine. Meets all the issue points for the true 1st Edition-"Roman" to title page, publishers imprint in cyrillic, and 2 page introduction (lacking from later Russian editions). The publication of the Russian text of Doctor Zhivago was attended by odd circumstances. It first appeared in a 'pirated' (or possibly semi-authorised) edition, a short time before Feltrinelli's official edition came out in Milan. The 'pirated' version, however, bore Feltrinelli's imprint and had apparently been produced by Mouton, the reputable firm of Dutch printers with whom he was negotiating, and to whom he had sent the manuscript. What seems to have happened is that a number of copies were run off and distributed prematurely-perhaps in accordance with instructions that only purported to come from Feltrinelli. Another possibility is that the manuscript was somehow intercepted and photocopied on the way from Italy to Holland, and the unauthorized edition made from it. The main point of the operation seems to have been to get the book out earlier than Feltrinelli had planned, so that it would be available for the large number of Soviet visitors expected to attend the International Fair in Brussels in 1958. Soviet visitors were able to get it from a Russian-speaking priest at the Vatican Pavilion, and a number apparently did so: there were stories at the time that the ground round about was littered with the dark-blue binding, which was torn off so that the book could be divided in two halves, one for each pocket. Whatever the truth of the matter, copies of this edition were probably the first to be smuggled into the Soviet Union, where the novel soon began to circulate on the underground book market" (Ivinskaya, A Captive of Time, footnote to page 228). There are 634 pages in the Dutch edition & 567 in the Milan edition. This and other inconsistancies indicate that each edition has been separately set and the pirated edition could not have been photocopied from the Feltrinelli edition. Recent evidence has suggested sources of funding for this publication included the American (CIA) and British secret services. Printing was apparently undertaken at different locations to avoid Russian intervention. Credence is lent to this theory by the differing paper stocks used in the publication of this volume. The Dutch edition also has a 2-page preface, dated 1 August 1 1958, not included in the Milan edition. The pirated edition has 'Roman' (novel) after the title, and at the foot of the title-page 'G. Feltrinelli-Milan' in cyrillics. It is dated 1958. The Feltrinelli edition has the publishers name & Milan in Latin script and has no date on the title-page. Original publisher's blue glazed buckram, spine lettered in gilt in Cyrillic, issued without a dustjacket. Exceedingly rare. I am happy to mail items worldwide, and always obtain a certificate of postage. Postage is extra. Signed for/insured can be added if the buyer prefers. Postage can be combined for multiple purchases. Returns are accepted if the item is not as described, so please : please see 'Returns' section for details. Thank-you for looking at this Ebay listing...... read more

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