The Possessed.

DOSTOEVSKY, Fyodor.

$7,200.00

Item Number: 111316

London: William Heinemann, 1913.

First edition in English of Dostoevsky’s classic novel. Octavo, original red cloth. Translated into English by Constance Garnett. In near fine condition. With a two-page letter signed and entirely in the hand of the translator, Constance Garnett, laid in. Dated May 23, 1929 and sent from The Cearne, Edenbridge Kent, the letter reads, “Dear Mr. Wright I wonder whether you have set off yet for the West Indies? I think you must almost regret going in this lovely spring weather. At last I have two Irish stamps which I enclose. Have you seen the coins? They are very charming. I had a very welcome letter from Mrs. Anderson & I am hoping to persuade her to come down for a day or two to see the woods and garden – which has this year surpassed my dreams! The apple blossoms and the tulips & the forgetmenots which flow in lakes of blue over my orchard make up a lovely picture. The talks we had at Pardigon about Turgenev encourage me to send you a copy of my husband’s little book on him. Russians have told me that it is the best critical study of Turgenev they know… with warmest good wishes Yours sincerely Constance Garnett.” Constance Garnett was the first English translator of Dostoyevsky and Chekhov, and one of the first translators to render almost all works by Turgenev, Goncharov, Ostrovsky, Herzen, and Tolstoy into English. Altogether, she translated 71 volumes of Russian literature, many of which are still in print today. Her husband, English literary critic and editor Edward Garnett published several biographies and collections of letters including his 1917 biography of Turgenev to which Constance refers in the present letter. In near fine condition. Rare.

First published in Russian as Russky Viestnik in St. Petersburg in 1873, The Possessed is a striking "reflection of Dostoevsky's belief that revolutionists possessed the soul of Russia and that, unless exorcised… they would drive his country over the precipice. It has become a classic of Russian literature for its searing examination of human evil" (Encyclopedia of Literature). The Possessed, containing "the structural coherence of a tragedy of Aeschylus or Euripides, is a testament of Dostoevsky's unparalleled genius. It has always been known that he is a marvelous creator of character—he is the equal of Dickens, and perhaps even the equal of Shakespeare, in this regard. But that he is a genius as a craftsman is perhaps less well known" (Joyce Carol Oates).