Russian Antiquarian Books www.bookvica.ru (Russian-language site) [email protected] +7 985 218 6937 The London International Antiquarian Book Fair Olympia 22- 24 May, 2014 Pavel Chepyzhov is an antiquarian bookseller based in Moscow. He is a member of ILAB and the Russian Guild of Antiquarian Booksellers. As this is his debut at western fairs, he hopes you will forgive any flaws in this catalogue and concentrate on the books themselves. This list is an attempt to present some interesting Russian books to a western audience. Some of them are remarkable world-renowned texts like Chto delat? [What is to be done?] (First Edition) and Anna Karenina (first appearance in print). Some are almost unknown to the western public: books on the English and American Classics written or translated by Russians; or the first Russian appearances of well-known western milestones such as On the Origin of species (first and “alternative first” Russian editions). The catalogue is split into six sections. All the books on the list are in Russian. 2 Science and the History of Thought [1] [MENDELEEV ON CHEMICAL SOLUTIONS - SIGNED COPY]. Mendeleev, D. Issledovanie vodnih rasstvorov po udelnomu vesu [Study of Aqueous Solutions from their Specific Gravity]. St Petersburg: V. Demakov, 1887. XXII, 520, [1] pp. 8vo. Original cloth with the title in gilt on the spine. Endpapers renewed. Occasional staining at the start and end of the book. This copy is signed to a friend and a chess partner of Dmitry Mendeleev’s, Anton Ivanovich Skander, an engineer (see Mendeleeva A. I. Mendeleev v zhizni [Mendeleev in life]. Moscow, 1928). Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907), one of the most celebrated Russian scientists, is best known for his formulation of Periodic Law and creating the periodic table of elements that was revolutionary for the time. He was particularly active in different fields of chemistry. As he said in 1905: “There were four things that gave me a name in science – my periodic table, study of elasticity of gases, understanding ‘solutions as associations’ and Osnovy himii [The Fundamentals of Chemistry].” Mendeleev began by studying chemical solutions in his thesis, Udelnie Obyemi (1856) [Specific Volumes]. But he set forth his views on the nature of solutions in this monograph, Study of Aqueous Solutions from their Specific Gravity (1887), which contains a vast quantity of 3 experimental data. According to Mendeleev, solutions are liquid systems in a state of dissociation. These systems consist of molecules of the solvent and solute and of the products of their interaction—unstable chemical compounds. On diagrams showing the dependence between the composition and the derivative of the density with respect to the composition (that is, the maximum ratio of increase in density to increase in composition), Mendeleev found breaks corresponding to the formation of chemical compounds. Much later (from 1912) N. S. Kurnakov, proceeding from Mendeleev’s ideas, created the theory of singular points of chemical diagrams. In his work on chemical solutions, Mendeleev anticipated the theory of hydration (and, in general, solvation) of ions. Mendeleev’s ideas about the chemical interaction between the components of a solution contributed significantly to the development of the modern theory of solutions. * [2] [MENDELEEV, THE ECONOMIST] Mendeleev, Dmitry. Ob usloviyah razvitiya zavodskogo dela v Rossii [On the Conditions of Developing Industry in Russia]. St Petersburg: A.S. Suvorin, 1882. 52pp. 8vo. Original wrappers. Good condition. Water stain in the lower part of title-page and two following leaves. Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907) was not only a leading scientist in his field, but also the author of several works concerning Russian industry. This is his first such work. 4 In the context of Russia’s rapid industrial growth in the 1880s, and having been brought up among the factories of Siberia, Mendeleev sought to encourage industrial development and to promote public interest in the subject. Mendeleev wrote, “I have seen enough to know how little we did in terms of managing our factories rightly. They are significant for the people, so the organisatIon of the industrial process is pivotal.” This work, along with the other essays on industrial problems written by Mendeleev in the 1880s, was one of the phenomena that prompted the decree by Emperor Alexander III (1845-1894) to the Minister of Finance, I. A. Vishegradsky, to undertake a general revision of the customs tariff to bring it into proper alignment with the needs of modern industry, thus comprehensively revitalizing it. * [3] [FIRST RUSSIAN ORIGIN OF SPECIES] Darwin, Charles. O Proischozhdenii Vidov... [On the Origin of Species] / Perevel s anglijskago (translated from English by) S. A. Rachinsky. St Peterburg: Glazunov, 1864. 8vo. Bound in modern half-leather. Some foxing. Otherwise a good copy. XIV, 399, [1] pp. + 4 pp. of advertisements + 1 plate. Very rare in the West. 5 The earliest references to Darwin’s theory in Russian periodicals appeared in 1861, but this book was the first by Darwin to be printed in Russian translation and it sold out within a year (1200 copies). This first edition was followed the next year by a second and it went through five further editions in the XIXth century. In Russia, Darwinism had a profound influence not only on the different sciences, but also on philosophy, economic and political thought, and the great literature of the period. Both Tolstoy and Dostoevsky referenced Darwin in their most important works, as did numerous other thinkers of the period. Sergey Rachinsky, professor of plant physiology at St Petersburg University, began translating the Origin in 1862 and wrote an important article on the theories presented in it while working on the translation. The article and this translation of the Origin into Russian were responsible for the positive reception and rapid, widespread adoption of the Darwinian theory of evolution by natural selection in Russia. * [4] [ALTERNATIVE FIRST EDITION OF ORIGIN OF SPECIES] Darwin, Ch. Karla Darwina uchenie o proishozhdenii vidov [Charles Darwin’s Doctrine on the Origin of Species] / izlozhennaya Fridrikhom Rolle (outlined by Friedrich Rolle) translated by M. Vladimirsky. St Petersburg: M. O. Volf, 1864. [4], XXXII, 320 pp: ill. 8vo. Contemporary half-leather. Good copy, some foxing. 6 This book appeared in print 2.5 months after the first edition (on 13th April compared to the 30th January 1864). Some Russian bibliographies name it as the first edition of the Origin of Species, while in fact it was a compilation of Darwin’s text with the work of the German geologist, Friedrich Rolle (printed in 1863 under the original title Ch. Darwin's Lehre von der Entstehung der Arten im Pflanzen- und Tierreich in ihrer Anwendung auf die Schopfungsgeschichte). Mikhail Vladimirsky, who was a teacher at the 5th Moscow Gymnasium combined both texts in one book, so that the volume contains sections by Darwin on variations under domestication and nature etc. as well as geological explanations by Rolle. This edition, unlike the one by Glazunov (see above) is illustrated throughout. It, too, was very popular and a second edition was published the following year without any changes. * [5] [A RUSSIAN EDITION OF DAWRIN PRINTED AT THE SAME TIME AS THE ENGLISH ORIGINAL] Darwin, Charles. Priruchennie zhivotnie i vozdelannie rasteniya [The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication] 2 vols. / translated from English with the consent and assistance of the author by V. Kovalevsky. Edited by I. M. Sechenov, botanical section edited by A. Gerdt. St 7 Petersburg, [1867-1869]; title-page: 1868. IV, 444 pp: ill + 462, VI pp: ill. 8vo. Very rare and little-known in the west. The copy is in contemporary half-leather. Good condition, some minor repairs to the folded illustrations. This edition is a fine example of the affection Russians had for Darwin and his theories. Vladimir Kovalevsky (1842-1883), the translator of this book, was a Russian biologist and the founder of evolutionary paleontology. His own scientific works were printed between 1873 and 1877, and according to Henry Osborn (Osborn, H. The rise of Mammalia in North America // Proc. Amer. Assoc. Sci. 1894. vol. 42, pp. 189–227) they “dare away” all traditional and dry European paleontology. That was mainly because Kovalevsky was a devoted Darwinist and adapted Darwin’s ideas to paleontology. Luis Dollo, the Belgian paleontologist, a contemporary of Kovalevsky’s, described him thus: ‘No paleontologist embodies so perfectly our epoch, as the brilliant and miserable Vladimir Kovalevsky, friend and guest of the immortal Charles Darwin’. Indeed, Kovalevsky was a friend of Darwin’s and they corresponded extensively (unfortunately all the letters were lost). When visiting Darwin in 1877, the Russian botanist, Timiryazev, asked Darwin about his views on Russian science and Darwin replied that he thought Vladimir Kovalevsky was the bright hope of paleontology. Kovalevsky was very eager to translate Darwin into Russian as soon as possible so he asked Darwin to send him the 8 proofs of his book chapter by chapter as soon as Darwin finished them. Kovalevsky translated with great speed (the complete book contains 900 pages) and he began to print the chapters from July 1867 (the first English edition appeared on 30th January 1868). The chapters were printed one after another as the translation went on. It is unclear whether or not any part of it appeared before the English edition. E. M. Freeman, the compiler of the well-known bibliography of Darwin’s works, states that there were two impressions of this edition – one in 7 parts and another in two volumes. He says of the first: “Parts 1-4 at least represent the first publication of this work in any language” (Freeman. 925-926) Of the edition in two volumes (our variant) he says that it was also printed in 1867-1869 but on the title-page of both we read ‘1868’.