MANDELSHTAM, Osip. Autograph Manuscript of the Poem, "Petersburg Stanzas." 1913. Single lined folio sheet removed from a sewn notebook, folded once, written on two rectos. The only known manuscript version of this important early poem by one of the great figures of 20th century verse, first published in the literary miscellany "Giberborei" (Number 5, Feb, 1913) and later included in the poet's first book, Kamen' (Stone) and then in the Collected Poems in 1928. The present text, which is cited in the standard edition, differs from the printed texts in two locations (first stanza, line one and third stanza, line 3). The manuscript bears the date January 1913 at the close. In her memoirs, Lily Brik specifically mentions this poem as one of the works Mayakovsky knew by heart and often spoke. Some soiling and crinkling, as is meet for such an object. Mandelshtam manuscript is among the rarest in the modern era, only about twenty poems being known to survive in holograph. It is a well-known fact that had it not been for the memory of Mandelshtam's wife Nadezhda, who had memorized them, many of his poems would have been lost.

One of only 20 extant manuscripts

• Category: Extraordinary Books, Manuscripts & Art
• Keywords: Manuscripts · poetry · Russian
• Language: Englisch
• Inventory number: 7074LB

Our price: USD 65,000.00