Books

New York: William S. Gottsberger, 1886. First US edition. Near fine.. First edition in English of one of the great novels of the 19th century, an exceptionally fresh and bright set. A remarkably lovely set of this first English rendering of Tolstoy's monumental classic, translated by Clara Bell by way of the French. The novel's quality survived the linguistic journey intact; as an anonymous reviewer wrote, "the worst paraphrasing from Russian to French and from French to English cannot efface the brilliant effects of the original." Contemporary enthusiasm for the Russian novelists, and for Tolstoy in particular, was stronger and steadier in the US than in England: by the 1870s, "there were probably three times as many American as British translations, and their quality was generally superior as well" (May). Tolstoy had then the power not only to awe the Anglophone world, but to shock it; but those critics who found his novels "as dirty and obscene as the worst parts of Walt…

War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published serially, then in its entirety in 1869. It is regarded as one of Tolstoy's finest literary achievements and remains a classic of world literature. The narrative chronicles the history of the French invasion of Russia through the eyes of five Russian aristocratic families and reflects on the philosophical themes of war, peace, and the human condition.

Look for the original Russian text printed by The Russian Messenger in 1869.