Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn / Alexander Solsjenitsyn:
The Gulag Archipelago. 1918-1956. (In Russian.) Parts 1-2 (=volume 1, of 3).
Paris, YMCA Press 1973. Paperback. 19,5 x 13,5 cms. 608 pages. Pictorial wrappers, very fine.
First Russian edition, preceding the English translation.
An exceptional association copy, inscribed by Solzhenitsyn in Russian to Hans Björkegren, his Swedish translator, who was instrumental (together with Stig Fredrikson) in smuggling manuscripts by Solzhenitsyn out of the Soviet Union.
(The autograph inscription in English translation:)
”To dear Hans Björkegren with great favor and sympathy! (Solzhenitsyn’s Signature) 24.2.74 Lilliehammer [sic.]”
(Den egenhändiga dedikationen i svensk översättning:)
”Till Hans Björkegren med stor värme och sympati. (Solzjenitsyns namnteckning) 24.2.74 Lilliehammer [sic.]”
Minor wear.
Hans Björkegren (1933-2017). Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970.