![DOSTOEVSKY, Fyodor (1821-1881). Zapiski iz podpol'ia. Povest. [Notes from the Underground. A Tale.] St Petersburg: F. Stellovskii, 1866.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2019/CKS/2019_CKS_18441_0026_000(dostoevsky_fyodor_zapiski_iz_podpolia_povest_notes_from_the_undergroun105227).jpg?w=1)
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DOSTOEVSKY, Fyodor (1821-1881). Zapiski iz podpol'ia. Povest. [Notes from the Underground. A Tale.] St Petersburg: F. Stellovskii, 1866.
The rare first separate edition of Dostoevsky's most philosophical work and 'probably the most important source of the modern dystopia' (Morson). RBH and ABPC record a single copy at auction (Eden Martin’s, Christie’s 2018) and the book is extremely rare in institutions outside Russia. Notes from the Underground is Dostoevsky's critique of Utopianism and his answer to those who believe that every human action is pre-determined, the complex consequence of prior causation. The underground man’s refusal to accept such 'despotism', even his irrational protest, is his way of asserting his freedom – without which no true religion is possible (Frank). The text first appeared in book-form the previous year in volume 2 of the Complete Collected Works. Frank, Dostoevsky. The Miraculous Years. 1865-1871, pp.312, 320; Morson, The Boundaries of Genre: Dostoevsky's Diary of a Writer and the Traditions of Literary Utopia, p.130. Not in Smirnov-Sokol’skii, Moia biblioteka.
Octavo (178 x 125mm). With 2 pp. of advertisement, edges uncut (a little spotting or toning, edges dusty). Original printed wrappers (soiled, upper wrapper loose, spine partly perished). Provenance: a couple of later annotations.
The rare first separate edition of Dostoevsky's most philosophical work and 'probably the most important source of the modern dystopia' (Morson). RBH and ABPC record a single copy at auction (Eden Martin’s, Christie’s 2018) and the book is extremely rare in institutions outside Russia. Notes from the Underground is Dostoevsky's critique of Utopianism and his answer to those who believe that every human action is pre-determined, the complex consequence of prior causation. The underground man’s refusal to accept such 'despotism', even his irrational protest, is his way of asserting his freedom – without which no true religion is possible (Frank). The text first appeared in book-form the previous year in volume 2 of the Complete Collected Works. Frank, Dostoevsky. The Miraculous Years. 1865-1871, pp.312, 320; Morson, The Boundaries of Genre: Dostoevsky's Diary of a Writer and the Traditions of Literary Utopia, p.130. Not in Smirnov-Sokol’skii, Moia biblioteka.
Octavo (178 x 125mm). With 2 pp. of advertisement, edges uncut (a little spotting or toning, edges dusty). Original printed wrappers (soiled, upper wrapper loose, spine partly perished). Provenance: a couple of later annotations.
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