Books

London: William Heinemann, 1946-1957. [Russian Literature] FINELY BOUND SET. Twelve volumes, all new impressions/later or reset printings of the Constance Garnett translations. Octavo (19 x 13 x 37cm). Handsomely bound in recent deep red half morocco, with raised bands, gilt titles on black labels and further gilt decoration to spines, and matching red cloth over board, t.e.g. Some volumes a little toned. Crisp, clean copies in attractive recent leather bindings. Dostoevsky's works translated by Garnett between 1912 and 1920, now rather difficult to assemble in this format. Five titles included here are the first new impressions since their original publication in the 1920's.

The Idiot is one of Fyodor Dostoevsky's masterpieces. It tells the story of the young Prince Lev Nikolayevich Myshkin, who returns to Russia from a sanatorium in Switzerland. Myshkin is a quintessential 'idiot', meant in the sense of an innocent, impressionable, and idealistic character. His return sets off a complex chain of events, which foregrounds Dostoevsky's themes of existential angst, the clash of good and evil, and the life of the Russian aristocracy.