Gore ot Uma [Woe from Wit]

Shankhai: A. P. Kriukov, V. K. Martensen i Ko., 1921. Softcover. First edition thus; 6 x 8 1/2; pp. 86; illustrated wraps; spine reinforced with a brown linen strip; minor spotting to wraps; a few nicks and cuts to lower corner of back wrap; several passages underlined; small signature to title page; overall good to very good condition.A charming edition of Aleksandr Griboedov's (1795-1829) "Woe from Wit," published for the benefit of the White Emigres in China. He was a Russian poet, playwright, diplomat and composer. Considered by some "homo unius libri" (a writer of one book), he would pen numerous plays and poems but would gain fame only with the present satire of the Russian aristocratic society. He would meet an untimely death, massacred by an angry mob, while serving as Russia's ambassador to Persia.