Books

First UK edition of Tolstoy's masterpiece, in a spectacular artist's binding by the late Derek Hood. The geometric shapes of Hood's 2017 binding represent the flashes of Moscow and St. Petersburg visible from a moving train, while the receding dotted rings suggest bright lights seen through a mist. The design shares several elements with Hood's interpretation of Cendrars & Delaunay's LA PROSE DU TRANSSIBÉRIEN, which likewise evokes a sense of movement inspired by a Russian train journey, but is bright and light where his ANNA KARENINA is dark-bordered and inescapable. The edition selected for transformation was the anonymously translated version published 140 years earlier as no. XX of Vizetelly's One-Volume Novels, a series responsible for first introducing British readers to Tolstoy, Flaubert, and Zola. Publishing the last of those three brought obscenity prosecution, imprisonment, and bankruptcy to Henry Vizetelly. Trained in bookbinding at Napier University in Edinburgh and St. Andrews University, Hood was also an accomplished drummer, touring and recording with bands like All About Eve and The Auteurs throughout the 1990s before returning to his studio. His work was frequently commissioned by the organizers of the Booker Prize for special presentation copies, and his books have been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Grolier Club. A unique metamorphic binding, paired with a major edition of this classic novel. 7.25'' x 4.75''. Dark blue goatskin with colored leather inlays, decorated with white gold dots in concentric circles. Deep blue-gray endpapers stamped in white gold. All edges gilt. In grey felt-lined black cloth chemise with peacock blue leather spine label and matching slipcase. 769, [3] pages, followed by 32-page publisher's catalogue. Minor wear to slipcase.

Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in book form in 1878. Many authors consider Anna Karenina the greatest work of literature ever written, and Tolstoy himself called it his first true novel. It deals with themes of betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. city life. The complex novel unfolds against the backdrop of 19th-century Russian high society and tells the tragic story of a married aristocrat and her affair with the affluent Count Vronsky. The novel explores a diverse range of topics throughout its pages and profoundly influences the genres of realist and romantic fiction.

First editions are generally identifiable by their print run, publisher, year of publication, and the absence of later editing dates. Typically for Anna Karenina, the true first editions would be the serialized publications in The Russian Messenger.