Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov (1891-1940)
A signed photograph. 1927
Portrait photograph signed ('M. Bulgakov') and inscribed to Vladimir Petrovich Nemeshaev, Moscow, 1 November 1927.

In Russian. Inscribed in red ink on the image. Image 148 x 102mm. Bifolium mount 263 x 176mm.

Bulgakov in 1927: an exceptionally rare autograph. Nemeshaev was the director of the copyright department at the Moscow Society of Dramatic Writers and Composers. The mid-1920s were years of feverish literary activity for Bulgakov, including his first major work, the novel Belaya gvardiya (The White Guard, 1925), the novellas The Fatal Eggs (1924) and Heart of a Dog (1925), as well as a series of plays, the majority of which were banned from performance; in 1928 he was to begin work on his masterpiece, The Master and Margarita. The present photograph shows the noticeably dandefied appearance characteristic of his portraits at this period, a time when he could often be seen sporting a monocle, a bow-tie and even a bowler hat. Bulgakov's autograph is exceptionally rare on the market: no examples are recorded on ABPC or RBH.

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