Author: Akhmatova, Anna
Title: Rekviem 1935-1940 [Requiem 1935-1940] (Interesting Association Copy)
Description: New York, Tovarishchestvo Zarubezhnykh Pisatelei, 1969. Softcover. Second revised edition; 5 1/2 x 7 1/2; pp. 24; textured white wraps printed in black; light rubbing to tips of spine, else minor wear; small handwritten "Akhmatova" to spine; near fine condition. Signed and inscribed by Russian poet and literary historian Gleb Struve, who also wrote the postscript to the current book, to Russian-born American physicist and author Iakov Lvovich (Alpert): "Iakov Lvovich, with thanks for your review of recent scientific publications. G. S. April 1970." Universally hailed as Anna Akhmatova's masterpiece, the lyrical cycle of poems "Requiem" was written between 1935 and 1940 but because of its explicit condemnation of Stalin's Terror - it was not published until the leader's death in 1963 and then only in Germany. The book was not printed in Russia until 1987. Most of the poems reflected her grief for her son Lev Gumilev's 18-years-long imprisonment in various hard labor camps. Gleb Struve (1898 - 1985) - a literary historian, critic, poet, translator, and scholar - joined the anti-Bolshevik resistance after the October Revolution, was imprisoned for a short time, and managed to escape Russia by crossing into Finland with a fake passport. Between 1919 and 1921 he studied at at Oxford University. From 1921 to 1924 and from 1924 to 1932, respectively, he worked as a journalist in Berlin and Paris. In exile, Struve met and became very close to some of the most notable Russian literary figures in exile including Ivan Bunin, Marina Tsvetaeva, and Vladimir Nabokov. In fact, he would become one of the very first critics to write of Nabokov's works in French and English. Gleb Struve would come to UC Berkeley as a Visiting Lecturer in 1946 and would stay on as a full-time Professor until his retirement in 1967. He also taught as a Visiting Professor at Harvard University, University of Washington, University of Colorado, University of Toronto and Indiana University. His generosity and wiliness to help students remain legendary to this day.Furthermore, as admired as he was in the West, Struve also had a solid underground following in the Russia all through the Soviet Era. In his postscript of "Requiem" he wrote he had met Anna in London in 1965 and she had made the corrections for the second edition on his own copy of the book. Iakov Lvovich Alpert (1911 – 2010) was a renowned physicist who would be refused entrance to the Ukrainian Polytechnic Institute because his father was a common worker. His attempts to emigrate began in 1973. Though his wife and he were "formally allowed" to apply for exit visas, the application would be denied..as were the next 26 of them the family filed in the following 12 years. They finally received their visas in 1987 and emigrated to the US. For the reminder of his career Struve worked as a Senior Staff Scientist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. During his lifetime he would publish 19 books in Russian and English and over 200 scientific papers. Ill.: 0. 2.

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