Books

Scarce first edition in English of Turgenev's first major work. These short stories made Turgenev's name, and Russian and international readers alike appreciated their realistic portrayals of serfdom before its abolition in 1861. The pieces were initially serialized in the magazine Sovremennik from 1847 to 1851 and then collected for publication in book form as Zapiski Okhotnika (1852). Published during the first flush of enthusiasm for previously disregarded Russian novelists, this edition was Turgenev's first complete publication to appear in the English language. The translator James Meiklejohn based his text on the 1854 French edition by Ernest Charrière. Copies were also produced in blue and brown cloth; no priority is established. Octavo. Original green ribbed cloth, spine lettered in gilt on a ribbon ground encircling a tree in a starry background, pictorial huntsman device stamped on front cover in gilt and on rear cover in blind, endpapers printed with publisher's adverts, binder's ticket of Alexander Banks Jr on rear pastedown. Publisher's 8-page ads at rear. Ownership inscription sometime erased from front free endpaper. Spine sunned, gilt bright, wear to ends and corners, occasional marks to binding and contents, inner hinges partly cracked but firm, a couple of small tears without loss to text. A very good copy. Line, Turgenev 18.

Russian Life in the Interior or The Experiences of a Sportsman, also known as Sketches from a Hunter's Album, is a collection of short stories by Ivan Turgenev based on his observations of Russian peasant life.