PASTERNAK, Boris Leonidovich (1890-1960). Doktor Zhivago. Milan: Feltrinelli, 1957 [but 1958]. [Offered with:] Izbrannyye stikhi [Selected verses]. Moscow: Uzel, 1926.

I: First trade edition in Russian of this celebrated novel. Gian Giacomo Feltrinelli, although an active communist, smuggled the manuscript out of the USSR, resisted pressure against its publication, and brought wide acclaim to his publishing house when he was first to publish Zhivago, in an Italian translation, in 1957. After winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1958, Pasternak was forbidden by the Soviet authorities to accept it, and saw his works suppressed in Russia. Cataloguers usually describe this edition as published in 1957, based on the date printed on the verso of the title; in fact, it was printed in late 1958. II: First edition, rare, one of 700 copies. Lesman 1720.

Octavo. I: (213 x 139mm). (Margins faintly yellowed, as often.) Original green paper-covered boards, the spine and front cover printed in black (corners a little worn, without the dust-jacket). Provenance: Leo Teholiz (stamp and inscription on pastedown and ffep). II: (180 x 150mm). Uncut and unopened, in the original wrappers with paper label.

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