TCHAIKOVSKY'S LIFELONG FRIEND
APUKHTIN, Aleksei Nikolaevich. Stikhotvoreniia [Poems]. St Petersburg, F. S. Sushchinsky, 1886.
8vo, pp. [ii], 218, iv; a very good copy in Russian contemporary half roan, cloth cornerpieces, spine lettered gilt, rubbed; with the shelf-label of the Biblioteka Astasheva and a Scandinavian ownership note to the front pastedown, typescript poem ('Otvet na pis'mo') inserted after p. 102.
First edition: Apukhtin's first collection of poems. 'Three thousand copies were published and quickly sold. Apukhtin's reputation as a poet was established' (Terras).Aleksei Apukhtin (1840-1893), 'the most legitimate heir of the poetry of the 1840s' (Evelyn Bristol, A History of Russian Poetry, p. 160), was a habitué of the St Petersburg salons, but he rarely published his poetry, being afraid of 'selling his talent'. In 1886, at the age of 46, he finally agreed the publication of the present collection. After the success of the book, he began to submit his poems to journals such as The Herald of Europe and Russian Thought. He was a lifelong friend of Tchaikovsky, whose letters reveal much about Apukhtin during his student years.
With a style 'accomplished and exceptionally musical from the standpoint of sound' (op. cit.), Apukhtin's verse was a popular choice with Russian composers. Poems of his later set by Arensky, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and, naturally, Tchaikovsky are included in the present collection.
Kilgour 44.
£750
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