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[INTRODUCING HENRY LONGFELLOW TO THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE] Genri Longfello. (1807-1882): Biogr. ocherk amer. poeta, s pril. yego stikhotvoreniy [i.e. Henry Longfellow. (1807-1882): Biographical Essay on the American Poet, with Appendix of His Poems]

Item #2528

Moscow: O-vo rasprostraneniya poleznykh knig, 1901. 48 pp. 14,1x10,2 cm. In owner’s cloth binding, with the original front wrapper mounted to the front board. Good. Binding rubbed, soiling of the mounted wrapper, occasional foxing; pre-revolutionary ex-library stamp “Uchenicheskaya biblioteka Shatskago Real'nogo Uchilishcha” [i.e. Student library of Shatsk Real School] on the title page, pp. 3, 17, 33, 41, and 48; inventory number on the title page.

Scarce. Text in Russian. From the series “Foreign Authors” issued in Moscow in 1901-1902.
One of the earliest Russian translations of Henry Longfellow’s verses from the Poems on Slavery (1842), published by the Society for the Distribution of Useful Books in Moscow in 1901. Founded in 1861 by the philanthropist Alexandra Strekalova (1821–1904), the Society aimed to produce books for popular and children’s reading. In collaboration with Professor M. Kapustin of Moscow University, Strekalova oversaw the publication of affordable works, including historical narratives, travel accounts, educational essays, and guides on civic and legal knowledge. According to the National Library of Russia, the last book issued by the Society dates to 1911.
The edition includes a brief biography of Henry Longfellow, alongside Russian translations of his 22 poems, including selections from Poems on Slavery (1842). Most of the translations were made by prominent Russian translators Anna Barykova (1839–1893), Dmitry Mikhalovsky (1828–1905), and Dmitry Pagirev (1865–1913).
Henry Longfellow’s name was first mentioned in the Russian press in 1835, in connection with the publication of his travel notes Over the Ocean in the United States. The first Russian translations of his poems appeared in the early 1860s, following earlier attempts to render his verse into prose. His Song of Hiawatha was partially translated by Dmitry Mikhalovsky in 1866 and more fully in 1868, though it attracted little attention from Russian literary critics at the time. It was only the 1896 translation of this epic by I. A. Bunin that became a significant event in Russian literary life, earning the Pushkin Prize from the Academy of Sciences in 1903. Interestingly, in 1921, amidst a devastating famine in Bolshevik-ruled Russia, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (grandson of the poet) established the Gorki Fund in Boston, spearheading efforts to provide aid to the starving population.
No copies found in Worldcat.

Price: $600.00