Beautiful Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak in lovely condition. The dust cover preserved it order so well!

TITLES: Doctor Zhivago
AUTHOR: Boris Pasternak
PUBLISHER: Feltrinelli
DATE, IF KNOWN: 1958

Important biographical info:

The book was originally published in Italian in 1957 by the Italian publisher Feltrinelli; in January 1958 the CIA accepted through British Intelligence microfilm copies of the Russian manuscript which Feltrinelli had received from Pasternak. The CIA's intention was to publish the book in Russian and distribute copies to Soviet visitors at the Brussels Universal and International Exposition, as it was one of the few occasions when large numbers of Soviet citizens travelled to the West for an event. With the assistance of the Dutch intelligence service (BVD), they secured a European publisher in order to conceal the publication's American sponsorship. The CIA made a deal with Peter de Ridder, an executive of the Dutch academic publishing company Mouton, and supplied him with the proofs. Feltrinelli, with Pasternak's support, had discussed the publication of a Russian edition in 1957 in collaboration with Mouton, but had not signed a contract. De Ridder, perhaps thinking that a contract with Feltrinelli was all but signed, went ahead without the Italian publisher's consent; he later said he had both tried and failed to reach Feltrinelli, who was on holiday at the time, and that he was warned the CIA would go elsewhere if he did not take the deal, which would scupper the planned Mouton-Feltrinelli edition regardless. De Ridder added Feltrinelli's imprint to the title page (but omitted the copyright notice) in a last-minute decision after a small number order of copies were printed without acknowledgement of the Italian publisher; the title page is in fact glued-in, as seen in this copy, reflecting the hasty addition. Unaware of the CIA's involvement, Feltrinelli saw it as outright fraud and considered legal action, though he later settled. The black market books were ready by early September 1958 - just in time for the Brussels Exposition, where 365 copies were distributed through a backroom at the Vatican pavilion: "Soon the book's blue linen covers were found littering the fairgrounds. Some who got the novel were ripping off the cover, dividing the pages, and stuffing them in their pockets to make the book easier to hide" (ibid., p. 142). The rest were distributed to CIA stations and assets in Western Europe, and 200 copies were sent to the CIA headquarters in Washington. Pasternak was deeply disappointed with the copy he saw, as it was based on an early, uncorrected manuscript, and deplored the errata in a letter to Feltrinelli. In late April or early May 1959 Feltrinelli released an edition in Russian, the third overall. The first official publication of the work in Russia occurred in 1988 by way of a serial publication in the journal Novy Mir. Peter Finn & Petra Couvee, The Zhivago Affair, Harvill Secker, 2014; Paulo Mancosu, Inside the Zhivago Storm, Feltrinelli, 2013.

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SHIPPING

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