Books

First edition, first printing, the first published Russian version of Orwell's masterpiece, translated by Mary Kriger Struve and Gleb Struve with the author's backing. Since Orwell was always clear that Animal Farm was an allegorical representation of Russia's transformation between the Revolution and the Stalinist era, the existence of a Russian translation made within Stalin's lifetime is particularly fascinating. Orwell was friendly with Gleb Struve, who had graduated from Balliol College, Oxford, and later held posts teaching Russian literature at University College London and the University of California, Berkeley. Mary Kriger was born in the United States but grew up in the Russian enclave in Harbin and later in Shanghai. She returned to America to complete her education and met Struve shortly after his arrival at Berkeley. Besides this Russian translation of Animal Farm, the couple also published an English translation of Blok's The Puppet Show (Balaganchik) in 1950. The publishing wing of the National Alliance of Russian Solidarists, an anti-communist organisation, Possev was based in West Germany, initially in Limburg an der Lahn and then in Frankfurt am Main. The house printed both Russian works which were censored in the Soviet Union and anti-Soviet books such as B. P. Vysheslavtsev's The Philosophical Poverty of Marxism (Filosofskaya nishcheta Marksizma). In keeping with the religious orientation of the NARS, passages "satirizing the church and religion and the role they played in society" were censored from this edition of Animal Farm (Karp, pp. 213-14). READ MORE Octavo. Original green wrappers, wire-stitched as issued, lettered in green. Text in Russian. Small label with inked shelf mark to front wrapper. Fading to edges of wrappers, crease to centre of rear wrapper, contents toned. A well-preserved copy of this fragile publication. Not in Fenwick. Masha Karp, George Orwell and Russia, 2023.

Animal Farm is an allegorical novella by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who revolt against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where animals can be equal, free, and just. However, the revolution is hijacked by the pigs, who become just as oppressive as the humans. Animal Farm is an allegory for the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Soviet Union.