The Master and Margarita

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. London: Collins and Harvill Press 1967. Translated from the Russian by Michael Glenny. With original, unclipped, near-fine dust wrapper. First UK Edition, First Print. Pp. 445.

The first full unexpurgated text published in English. A scarce example to be found in close to near-fine condition.

An audacious revision of the stories of Faust and Pontius Pilate, The Master and Margarita is recognised as one of the essential classics of modern Russian literature. The novel's vision of Soviet life in the 1930s is so ferociously accurate that it could not be published during its author's lifetime and appeared only in a censored edition in the 1960s. Its truths are so enduring that its language has become part of the common Russian speech.

Background

Although the novel had been completed in 1938, in common with most of Bulgakov's prose, it was not published until long after his death in 1940. Bulgakov published a number of novels and stories through the early and mid-1920s, but by 1927 his career began to suffer from criticism that he was too anti-Soviet. By 1929, his career was ruined: government censorship prevented publication of any of his work and staging of any of his plays, and Stalin personally forbade him to emigrate. By 1967, Soviet publishing censorship had been relaxed, allowing Moskva to publish the novel, although the publication was still a censored version of the text which eliminated much of the anti-Soviet satire. Even so, it still caused an immediate sensation on publication. The full unexpurgated text was published in English later in 1967, and this present edition is the first English edition and first print.

Condition

Publisher's original cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine. Externally in very good condition with only minor bumping to corners and a few spots of foxing to edges. Pages are well bound (although not tightly, as the book has been read) and internally, the book is immaculate and free of inscriptions. It presents beautifully in a near-fine, unclipped dust wrapper with bright panels. A very small, closed tear to the bottom of the rear panel. Minimal chipping otherwise with virtually no loss. The dust wrapper has now been placed in a removable, protective sleeve of archival quality.