ONE OF ONLY THREE BULGAKOV'S LIFETIME EDITIONS, PRINTED IN USSR
Item #2060
Summelband of 8 editions:
1. Vishnya, O. Rasskazy [i.e. Short Stories]. Leningrad: Gos. tipografiia imeni tov. Zinov’eva, 1926. 61, [1] pp.: ill.+ [1] pp. of ads.
2. Bulgakov, M. Rasskazy [i.e. Short Stories]. Leningrad: Gos. tipografiia imeni tov Zinov’eva, 1926. 58, [3] pp.+[2] pp. of ads.
3. Romanov, P. Iumoristicheskie rasskazy [i.e. Satirical Short Stories]. Moscow: Ogonek, 1926. 60, [1] pp.+3 pp. of ads.
4. Averchenko, A. Chelovek za shirmoi. Rasskazy [i.e. Man Behind Screen. Short Stories]. Moscow: Ogonek, 1926. 61, [1] pp.+ 3 pp.: ill. of ads.
5. Zorich, A. O tsvetnoi kapuste [i.e. About Cauliflower]. Moscow: Ogonek, 1925. 3-36, [1] pp. +1 p. of ad.
6. Andreev, V. Rasskazy [i.e. Short Stories]. Leningrad: Gos. tipografiia imeni tov. Zinov’eva, n. d. 62, [1] pp.: ill. + [1] p. of ad.
7. Vladimirov, V. Zvanyi vecher ili pogonia za kommunistom. Komediia v dvukh deistviiakh [i.e. Soiree, or Chasing a Communist. Comedy in Two Acts]. Leningrad: MODPIK, 1926. 32 pp.
8. Miasnitskii, I. Monologi dlia stseny [i.e. Monologues for the Stage]. Moscow: Izd. S. Razsokhina, [1904]. 48 pp.
15x11,5 cm. In contemporary binding. Rubbed, foxing occasionally, otherwise very good.
This book includes Bulgakov’s collection of 8 short stories that was published in a series ‘Satirical Illustrated Library of the Magazine “Smekhach”’ [Comedian]. It is illustrated with 14 satirical drawings by N. Radlov.
The first story ‘Inflammation of the Brain’ (1926) was topical for Bulgakov: writers’ routine. The main character is stunned by heat and hunger, but he is forced to urgently write a story for a
magazine and enters into a conversation with his own brains. Under the second title ‘The Golden Correspondence of Ferapont Ferapontovich Kaportsev’ (1924), Bulgakov gathered four
satirical sketches about ridiculous and difficult life in the Russian outback in the 1920s. The third, ‘The Flying Dutchman’ (1925) is dedicated to early Soviet medicine and sanatoriums. An unlucky patient is forced to move between sanatoriums where he hears absolutely different diagnoses. In ‘A Lousy Type’ (1925), a man seriously injured himself in order to receive monetary compensation from the state and drink it away. Bulgakov wrote ‘The Water of Life’ (1925) describing the provincial trade of distilled drinks. ‘Colorful Customs’ (1923) unites two feuilletons about inappropriate behavior. ‘Residential Area on Wheels. Diary of Genius Citizen Polosukhin’ (1924) satirizes the lack of dwellings in early Soviet Moscow – the main character was exhausted looking for an apartment and began to live in a tram, setting a new trend. ‘The Egyptian Mummy The Story by a Trade Union Member’ (1924) is the most absurd feuilleton among them and described an early Soviet entertainment venue.
Overall Bulgakov has seen only 7 books printed in his lifetime. Of those four came out abroad and without author's content (one even was altered against his will). Of the three books, printed by the author in USSR, The Diavoliad is more common, while the other two are quite scarce.
Price: $3,500.00