Povesti i razskazy [Stories and tales]

Moscow: I. D. Sytin, 1894. First edition. 284 pp., 2 leaves. Contemporary Russian half calf with pebbled black cloth sides, spine and corners worn, hinges neatly repaired. The spine is lettered in gilt with the title only. The rare original front and back printed wrappers are preserved. An abrasion on the title page affects three letters. Inscribed on the front free endpaper "D. Zhook. Purleigh 1899. (Book sent me by Anton Chekhov)." This collection of eleven short stories was actually printed in January 1895, and that is the date on the front wrapper. Dora Zhook (Dora Wess Zuk) translated Tolstoy and others around that time, and her husband translated and published various other writers, notably Kropotkin. She corresponded with Chekhov in 1899 concerning her desire to translate his stories, but as far as we know, none was ever published. Among the stories included here are "The Black Monk," "Rothschild's Fiddle," "The Student," and "The Teacher of Literature