[FIRST RUSSIAN CRITIQUE OF PURE REASON] Kritika chistogo razuma / per. M. Vladislavleva [i.e. Critique of Pure Reason / Translated by M. Vladislavlev].

St. Petersburg: tip. N. Tiblena (N. Nekludova), 1867. Item #109

[4], IV, XXXVIII, XXXIV, 627 pp. 21x14,5 cm. In contemporary quarter leather. Scuffed boards and few pieces are missing, Soviet bookshops’ stamps, previous owner’s ink signature on several pages, pen signature and bookplate on the front endpapers («From books of professor D.S. Ozeretskovsky», a famous Soviet psychiatrist and bibliophile (1899-1995), one of the founders of the group psychotherapy and close friend of Mikhail Bulgakov). Otherwise good.

First Russian translation.

Translated by Russian historian of philosophy M.I. Vladislavlev. This publication was a significant event for Russia’s cultural life at that moment. It promoted Kant’s ideas but even though a big amount of work was done the translation caries mistakes and distortions, even of the main notions (like ‘Ding an sich’).
In Russia Kant was an important figure, and attitude towards his philosophy work was complicated and ambiguous. With the development of high education different approaches to interpretation of Kant’s philosophy have shaped. Perception of his work was particular for every town - Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Kharkiv. Kant’s philosophy was spreading in waves (three overall), for example, at first it was introduced by professors Melman and Schaden in Moscow University who actively started to promote it; Karamzin published kind reviews, and finally first translations were printed («Osnovopolozheniye k metafizike nravov», Moscow, 1803; translated from German by Yakov Ruban). The first printed reference to Kant in Russia was made in 1790 by Melman (in Latin), and the first mention in Russian was made by Karamzin in 1791 (it was a letter about meeting the philosopher). All this together with Kant’s election to the Academy of Sciences in 1794 was the start of Russian Kantianism. His name was so well known in Russia that Russian diplomats and travelers were deliberately seeking his reception. His ideas were popular among professors promoting them in universities (Melman, Shad, Finke etc.). It is known that even clerics were using handwritten translations in theological academies. So in the very beginning of 19th century there were made a few translations, most of them were low-grade because the source for translations was secondary or (and) in other than German languages. But even these bad translations disappeared for a few decades, and only in the second half of the century new professional translations (like this) were made. Decrease of Kantianism can explain such situation (the decrease itself was probably caused by the spread of materialism and positivism).

Price: $1,200.00

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