Vintage 1948 Soviet Book: Nikolai Dobrolyubov Selected Works | Tsar to Soviet Books

Classic 1948 Soviet Edition: "Selected Works" by Nikolai Dobrolyubov

For scholars of 19th-century Russian literature, intellectual history, and collectors of vintage Soviet academic editions, this 1948 original Soviet hardcover volume is a foundational critical collection. Published in Moscow and Leningrad by OGIZ – State Publishing House of Fiction (ОГИЗ – Государственное издательство художественной литературы), Selected Works (Избранные сочинения) compiles the major essays and articles of philosopher, publicist, and literary critic Nikolai Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov.

Bound in a light-grey textured cloth hardcover with stamped dark blue title lettering and embossed "1948", this volume was edited and annotated by Soviet literary scholar A. Lavretsky.

Revolutionary-Democratic Criticism, Saltykov-Shchedrin & The Sovremennik Circle This volume brings together Dobrolyubov’s key ideological and critical texts:

• The Critique of Russian Society & Serfdom: Landmark analyses including "Provincial Sketches" («Губернские очерки»), exploring Saltykov-Shchedrin's social satires, and "Village Life of a Landowner in the Old Days" («Деревенская жизнь помещика в старые годы»), exposing the brutality and stagnation of provincial serf ownership.

• The Theory of Narodnost in Literature: The critical study "On the Degree of Participation of Narodnost in the Development of Russian Literature", analyzing the evolution from 18th-century court poetry to social realism.

• Archival Tipped-In Plates: Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece portrait of Dobrolyubov and a full-page historical painting plate showing the Sovremennik editorial board in consultation: Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Nikolay Nekrasov, Nikolai Dobrolyubov, Alexander Pypin, and Grigory Eliseev.

• Authentic Post-War Inscription: Preserves a vintage 1949 personal gift dedication on the front endpaper from a grandmother to her grandson.

Complete Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Избранные сочинения (Selected Works)

• Author: Nikolai Alexandrovich Dobrolyubov (Н. А. Добролюбов)

• Editor & Notes: A. Lavretsky (А. Лаврецкий)

• Publisher: OGIZ – Goslitizdat (ОГИЗ – Гослитиздат, Москва–Ленинград)

• Publication Date: 1948 (Moscow–Leningrad, USSR)

• Language: Russian

• Binding: Original publisher's stamped cloth hardcover

• Page Count: Heavy large-format volume with tipped-in art plates

• Classification: Russian Classical Literature / Literary Criticism & Journalism / 19th-Century Intelligentsia

Condition & Preservation Report

• Exterior Condition: Original light-grey cloth boards are clean, flat, and rigid with clear front-board typography and minimal corner shelf wear.

• Binding Integrity: Exceptionally firm, square, and tight text block with intact hinges.

• Page & Plate Quality: Interior pages and archival plates are clean and unmarked, exhibiting uniform light cream age-toning typical of late-1940s Soviet publishing papers. Front flyleaf retains a neat period handwritten owner inscription dated October 24, 1949. Free from marginal notation, underlining, or library stamps.