Bookvica

[BULGAKOV’S SEANCE] Rupor : Literatura, teatr, iskusstvo, kul’tura, ekonomika [i.e. Mouthpiece: Literature, Theater, Art, Culture, Economics] #1, 3, 4 for 1922

Item #2062

Moscow: Izd. G.N. Sementsova, 1922.

No.1 – 23 pp. 31x23 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Covers detached from each other, back cover chipped, small corner of p.1-2 lost (text slightly affected), pages partly detached, few small ink spots. Otherwise good.
No.3 – 16 pp. 31x23,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Small tear of spine, otherwise mint.
No.4 – 16 pp.: ill. 31x23,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Tears of spine and edges, otherwise very good.

Three of five issues published. Print run varies 7000-7500 copies.

No.4 comprises the first publication of a short story “Séance” by Mikhail Bulgakov and his photo (p.6-7). In 1921, Mikhail Bulgakov had moved to Moscow and began to contribute to various magazines, mostly as a feuilletonist. He debuted with stories in the magazine ‘Rupor’ – “The Extraordinary Adventures of the Doctor" in #2 and “Spiritual Seance” in #4.
“Spiritual Seance” or just “Séance” is a NEP period short story about how a group of people get together to ask a spirit when Bolsheviks will be defeated. A hostess asks a maid to sit in the kitchen and not make noise. However, the frightened maid runs away and tells neighbors about the seance. The words are heard by a soldier who immediately reports to the Cheka.
The lively session is interrupted by the authorities. The epilogue is short: one participant is imprisoned for a week, the second one for 13 days and an owner of the apartment for 1,5 months. The idea for the story was definitely inspired by Bulgakov’s kith. In 1922 he got to know a couple which were passionate about occult ideas and frequently held seances in their Moscow apartment. The writer was ironic about mystical rituals and supernatural beliefs. According to memoirs of his contemporary wife Tatiana Lappa, once they received an invitation to take part in such an event. Bulgakov agreed and talked her into making a hoax. After waiting for her husband’s signal, Lappa had to lightly hit a table pretending a spirit appeared. Also, Mikhail Bulgakov participated in a stage performance about a spiritual session in 1909. He created an image of the medium and helped in staging. Together, all these memoirs were combined into the writing.

The prototypes weren’t happy about the story. Indirectly, the author laughed at their manners. Some people were frightened because of anti-Bolshevik phrases repeated in the story which could affect real life. In 1938, Sergei Yutkevich’s film “The Man with the Gun” showed a scene totally reproducing the plot of the short story. The magazine “Rupor” was positioned as “not narrowly sectarian but tolerant to every thought” edition. In all, five issues were published in 1922. No.3 includes an article on the first production of ‘La Tour de Nesle’ (1832) by A. Dumas at the avant-garde Theater Romanesc. This early Soviet theater existed in Moscow in 1922-1923, headed by Valery Bebutov, a former collaborator of V. Meyerhold in production of ‘Mystery-Bouffe’. The main stage designer was his sister, Cubist artist Elena Bebutova. Lunacharsky attended few rehearsals for ‘La Tour de Nesle’ and promoted the Romanesc approach in a private letter: “The principles on which this theater [Romanesc] is organized completely coincide with those that I have been developing for twenty years to renovate the theater and create a purely folk theater, namely a return to the melodrama and romantic drama of the 30s and 40s, when the French created masterpieces of entertainment and high theatricality, captivating the deepest working masses”. The article was written by Valery Bebutov outlining the adaptation, introducing the cast and answering some questions from spectators. The magazine features photographs of Valery Bebutov, Elena Bebutova, four actors during the production, a draft stage design and a theater logo drawn by Bebutova. The back cover of No.1 showcases five pictures of Povolzhye cannibals. Caused by the Civil War and state seizure of peasant food, the extensive famine expanded in 1921-1923. A significant number of the starving people resorted to cannibalism.

Some issues are located in Harvard University.

Price: $1,500.00