? (Chto Delat? / What Is To Be Done?)

St. Petersburg: Sovremennik / Contemporary, 1863. First Edition. Hardcover. Very good. Most Popular Russian Novel of the 19th Century

, H. . (CHERNYSHEVSKY, Nikolai). ? (Chto Delat?). In the original printing of issues 3-5 of (Sovremennik / Contemporary) March – May, 1863. St. Petersburg, 1863. [5] – 142; [373] – 526; [55] – 197 + [1]: "Zagadka", by N. Berg. Octavo. First Appearance.

The extremely scarce first printing of all parts of the most influential Russian novel ever written, Chernyshevsky's magnum opus, which is considered the single most important work of modern revolutionary thought. "[N]o work in modern literature, with the possible exception of Uncle Tom's Cabin, can compete with What Is to Be Done? in its effect on human lives and its power to make history. Chernyshevsky's novel, far more than Marx's Capital, supplied the emotional dynamic that eventually went to make the Russian Revolution" (Joseph Frank).

Chernyshevsky wrote the story of Vera Pavlovna, “A Love Story” (as identified in his own preface) to redeem the reputation of the new intellectuals. The character of Bazarov, in Turgenev’s Fathers and Sons, soiled the reputation of the new intellectuals, presenting them as nihilistic. Chernyshevsky rejected this characterization as he asserted a vision of society that embraced the scientific materialism, rational egoism, utilitarianism, and positivism of the time. “In What Is To Be Done?, Chernyshevsky sought not only to explain reality but also to change it by providing radical youth with guidelines for social behavior and political action.” “The novel’s heroes—Lopukhov, Kirsanov, and Vera Pavlovna—stand above social conventions, being guided not by irrational beliefs but by positive self-interests with the interests and welfare of society as a whole.” Later, Dostoevsky would reject Chernyshevsky’s philosophical vision in his Notes from Underground and Crime and Punishment.


CONDITION: Very good. All three issues bound together in a contemporary quarter leather, binding. Faint gilt lettering on leather spine. Diagonal repair to first page. Ex-Library stamps to a few pages and spotting throughout.

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