Semeinaia Khronika i Detskie Gody Bagrova-Vnuka [A Russian Gentleman and Years of Childhood]

St. Petersburg: Tipografiia M. M. Stasiulevicha, 1911. Hardcover. Second edition; 6 x 9; pp. 492; textured blue cloth over boards; title and decorations in gilt and black; a few rubbed spots to tips of spine and corners; handwritten note indicating the book was purchased in 1928 to endpaper verso; small personal stamp to title page; marbled page edges; text clean; overall very good.Sergei Timofeevich Aksakov (1791 - 1859) was a Russian author best known for his semi-autobiographical tales of family life and his books on fishing and hunting. He began writing and publishing in the 1830s after meeting Gogol and recognizing what he claimed to be "a purely Russian genius." It was Gogol who would encourage Aksakov to create his works based simply on everyday life. His two works collected in the current book - "A Russian Gentleman" and "Years of Childhood" respectively published in 1856 and 1858 and meticulously describing the everyday life of the Russian nobility would bring him the fame of a literary artist of the highest order.