Inscribed to a Future Editor
Letters to the Future: An Approach to Sinyavsky-Tertz
Publication: Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1975. First Edition.
Notes: Lourie’s study of Soviet dissident Andrei Sinyavsky, inscribed to his future editor Michael di Capua with the hope that the book still had “a little mileage” in it.
Under his own name, Andrei Sinyavsky was a respected Soviet literary scholar; as Abram Tertz, he wrote fantastic and satirical fiction that could not be published openly in the Soviet Union. His dual identity was discovered and in 1966 he was sentenced to seven years at hard labor by the Soviet government.
Lourie wrote this literary study shortly after Sinyavsky’s release and emigration to Paris. Lourie draws upon Sinyavsky’s published writings, the trial record, and the recollections of friends. Lourie later translated Sinyavsky’s Goodnight!
223 (including preliminaries), [1:blank] pages.
Edition + Condition: First edition (stating "First published..." with no indication of later printings). A near fine copy in a dust jacket that would be fine except for some fading to the spine. Inscribed to Michael di Capua, "To Michael, I think there's still a little mileage in this book. Richard Lourie. 4/2/81 N.Y."
Five years after this book was inscribed, di Capua, while at Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, would publish Richard Lourie's translation of Janusz Korczak's King Matt the First. A nice association between author and editor.
Provenance: Michael di Capua; Clouds Hill Books.
Item No: #180435
Price: $95