Bunin, I[van]. A[lekseyevich].

The Gentleman From San Francisco. And other stories… Translated from the Russian by S[amuel]. S[olomonovitch]. Koteliansky and Leonard Woolf.

Richmond [Surrey, England]: The Hogarth Press, 1922. First edition. Includes contemporary publisher’s note tipped in at title page indicating the erroneous omission of D.H. Lawrence’s name as a co-translator of the titular story. Very light rubbing to front board. Mild shelf wear to board edges. Toning and mild chipping to spine label. Some foxing to endpapers. Edges trimmed. Text clean throughout. A very good copy. Publisher’s green, blue, and yellow pattern over white paper boards with white printed paper label to front. Printed paper label to spine. Octavo. v, [1 blank], 1-86 pp + [2] pp publisher’s ads. Item #17983

Ivan Bunin (1870-1953) was a Russian poet, novelist, noted prose stylist, and the first Russian awarded the Nobel prize for literature (1933). Born to nobility in the Russian provinces, Bunin frequented Russia’s metropoles as a young man, first becoming associated with the Symbolist movement before gaining greater traction as a traditional prose writer in the mode of Chekhov and Tolstoy. Bunin broke with many of his contemporaries after the Russian Revolution, regarding the Bolsheviks as base. He spent the rest of his life living in exile, eventually settling in France, where his fame grew throughout the Western world as a prominent Russian émigré writer. During WWII, Bunin resisted contact with the Nazis and hid Jews in his country villa. After the war’s end, he was invited by the USSR to return to Russia, an offer he refused.

The present work contains four stories by Bunin: the eponymous story; “Gentle Breathing”; “Kasimir Stanislavovitch”; and “Son.” All four of the stories were co-translated by the Woolfs’ longtime Russian collaborator, by Samuel Koteliansky — with the first story sharing a translation credit with D.H. Lawrence, and the subsequent stories, Leonard Woolf. Regardless of the translation’s quality (Koteliansky’s facility with English was dubious, as was the Woolfs’ Russian) the present work constitutes a fascinating web of early twentieth century transcontinental collaboration.

Price: $275.00