Books

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1903. Limited edition of the works of Leo Tolstoy, one of one hundred and fifty copies printed on Ruisdael paper, this is number sixty-eight. Octavo, 25 volumes. Bound in three quarters morocco, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, two frontispieces to each volume. In very good condition, with volume one bound upside down. Born to an aristocratic Russian family in 1828, Leo Tolstoy is best known for the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction. He first achieved literary acclaim in his twenties with his semi-autobiographical trilogy, Childhood, Boyhood, and Youth (1852–1856), and Sevastopol Sketches, based upon his experiences in the Crimean War.

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.