Search Results: Authors starting with S from PY Rare Books

First edition of this fine and scarce summary of Zionism published in Vilnius, still with its lovely art-nouveau wrapper.
***Full description kindly provided on request***

First edition of this important collection of stories on Soviet labour camps, which Shalamov (1907-82), a poet and man of letters on the wrong side of the Soviet authorities, experienced repeatedly during the entire reign of Stalin, from 1929 to the early 50s.
Kolyma, where Shalamov spent most of his sentences, is a remote, sub-arctic region of north-eastern Siberia, where gold and platinum were discovered shortly before the Russian revolution. During the intensive industrialisation under Stalin, Kolyma became the most notorious region for the Gulag labour camps: a "pole of cold and cruelty" in the Gulag system as Solzhenitsyn described it. The celebrated poet Osip Mandelshtam died in 1938 on the way there, in a transit camp where Shalamov had been about a year earlier: the latter wrote Sherry Brandy, a short story of this tragic end, which was included in these Kolyma Tales.
A "collection of brief sketches, vignettes, and short stories, [Kolyma Tales] chronicles the degradation and dehumanization of… Read More

First edition of this depiction of the Russian emigration in Berlin in the Golden Twenties - with a famous cover designed by Lissitzky, and some lovely examples of fine book design.
One of the key figures of Russian Formalism, the writer and literary critic Viktor Shklovskii (1893-1984), fearing arrest for opposing the bolsheviks, fled Russia in March 1922. He settled in Berlin where he lived at the "Zoo" [zoological garden] metro station, together with many of his fellow compatriots: this is the life he described in 'Zoo', portraying his friends-writers and artists as representatives of a certain kind of fauna, unaccustomed to life in Europe. Each letter's title is often an anecdotic story itself, such as the "Letter Five, which contains a description of Aleksei Mikhailovich Remizov, and his way of carrying water to the fourth floor in bottles. It also describes the life and manners of the great monkey order" (our translation).
In Berlin, Shklovskii was unrequitedly in love with the writer and… Read More

The golden age of children's illustration in Russia: a colorful depiction of the advancements of the Soviet collective farming. First edition, in excellent condition.
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"Teach not by beatings, threats or starvation, but by using only affectionate words": first edition of this influential Russian work on hippology. Dedicated to Ivan Pankratievich Agafonov (1803-68), Privy Councillor and Warsaw Military District Medical Inspector.
The course was written specifically for veterinarian students of the Warsaw Military District, "for the Fireworks School of Field Artillery, by the master of veterinarian sciences of the Warsaw military district", as indicated on the title page. Part I consists of 6 sections: 1) types of equine animals, horse breeds, famous horses in history, history of horses in Russia from Prince Vladimir to the 1860s, Russian horse breeds; 2) external characteristics of the horse; 3) internal anatomy of the horse; 4) bodily processes in healthy horses; 5) advice on preserving the horse's health; 6) the art of horseshoeing.
Part II consists of 4 sections: 1) overview of equine illnesses; 2) remedies; 3) external and internal illnesses; 4) types of… Read More

The great actor and director at the height of his powers.
A fine cabinet photograph of Konstantin Stanislavskii (born Alekseev, 1863-1938), the great actor and director, who revolutionised modern theatre in a series of innovative productions at the Moscow Arts Theatre in the pre-war years, developing his famous 'system'. The recipient, Andrei Pavlovich Petrovskii (1869-1933) was a fellow actor and director.
The image can be dated by comparison with another surviving portrait by Sherer, Nabholz from the same sitting, in the same suit and tie, with the same distinguished moustache and wave of white hair, but facing the other way and slightly more forwards. We could trace an example of this other portrait, inscribed to Aleksandra Sergeevna Kiseleva, and dated 4 January 1911.
By 1911, Stanislavskii had already achieved world-wide fame. In 1898, he co-directed with Nemirovich the first of his productions of Chekhov: the MAT production of The Seagull has been described as "one of the greatest events in… Read More

Fine, fresh example of uncommon first edition of one of the earliest attempts to systematise the history of Armenian literature.
Spanning a period from II century until mid XVII century, the present volume mentions the works of Gregory the Illuminator, Mesrop Mashtots and other key figures in Armenian history.
The Armenian Somal was Archbishop of Siuna and General Abbot of the celebrated Congregation of the Armenian monks of San Lazzaro degli Armeni.
ProvenanceSan Biagio degli Armeni (Roman church; bookplate to upper pastedown).
DescriptionOctavo (22 x 15 cm). pp. xix, 240, errata leaf; just a few spots, leaf 1/8 with marginal paper flaw. Contemporary half-calf over blue marbled boards, flat spine with gilt lettering and decorations in compartments, speckled edges.