NARODNY, Ivan [pseud Jaan Sibbul]; Eugene Higgins (illus)

Echoes of Myself. Romantic Studies of the Human Soul

New York: Liberty Publishing Co., 1909. First, Limited Edition. No. 876 of 999 hand-numbered copies. Author's inscription to front endpaper: "To Mr. Alfred Wiehl with compliments," signed, undated but apparently contemporary with publication. Octavo. Green cloth, titled in gilt; 231pp; frontispiece and three unnumbered leaves of plates. A tight, Near Fine copy, with just a trace of rubbing to the binding at corners and spine ends.

Collection of short stories and philosophical vignettes by this somewhat enigmatic figure – a Russian emigré and revolutionary, a friend of Maxim Gorki and a disciple of Tolstoi, Narodny was forced into exile following his involvement in the Kronstadt Rebellion. He arrived in New York in 1906, in the company of Gorki; he involved himself in commercial ventures (at one point being denounced by the Russian Government for presenting himself as the head of the "Russian Chamber of Commerce"); subsequently, he was reputedly involved in the sale of American arms to the Bolsheviks. After the 1917 Revolution, Narodny attempted to establish himself in legitimate international trade under the rubric "The Russian-American Asiatic Corporation," though we can find no evidence the venture succeeded. The inscribee is possibly the New York restaurateur Alfred Wiehl (1847-1932), proprietor of a popular turn-of-the century lower-Manhattan eatery. Uncommon. SMITH (American Fiction) N-5.

Price: $125.00

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