Babel

1926 · réf. 279 — First edition of Isaac Babel's Red Cavalry transliterated as Konarmiya or Konarmiia. First printing. Original wraps. Octavo with deckle edges. Margins lightly yellowed; occasional light soiling; some pencil underlining. Original illustrated wrappers printed in red and black. Rebacked with small repairs and spine title apparently refreshed. Corners rounded with two small areas reinforced to reverse of covers. In custom grey cloth clamshell case. True first edition in the original Russian of Babel's masterpiece frequently cited as the greatest literary work of the Russian Revolution and a high spot of both Russian and European Jewish modernism. Few copies extant having needed to survive the chaos of the early Soviet Union; the destruction of copies following Babel's banning purge and eventual murder under Stalin; the burning of copies by the Nazi regime where it appeared on the "combustion lists"; the massive widespread destruction of the Second World War; and the chaos at the end of the Soviet Union. Gosudrastvennoe Izdatel'stvo paperback