Books

First edition in English, first impression, finely bound. Constance Garnett's translations introduced Russian literature to the general British public and her work was highly acclaimed by her contemporaries, including Leo Tolstoy, who encouraged her to continue her work. The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky's last novel, was serialized in the Russian Messenger between January 1879 and November 1880. Octavo. Finely bound by Bayntun Riviere in contemporary navy full polished calf, raised bands on gilt-tooled spine with red and purple morocco labels, covers double ruled in gilt, "J.S.L.B." initials on front cover in gilt, turn-ins gilt, marbled endpapers, edges gilt. Housed in custom blue flat-backed cloth box. Repair at corners and joints, a little recolouring to spine and edges, text tightly trimmed, internally fresh: a very good copy.

Notes from Underground is a novella by Fyodor Dostoevsky that presents the interior monologue of a man living in St. Petersburg, Russia. The protagonist, often referred to as the underground man, retreats into a self-imposed isolation from society and articulates his world views through a series of contradictory and complex thoughts and ideas. The work is split into two parts, with the first titled 'Underground' and the second, 'A Propos of the Wet Snow.' It is often regarded as one of the first existentialist novels.