*SOLD*
 
Letters from the Underworld[Notes from the Underground]
Fyodor Dostoevsky
London, 1913
 
The first edition in English of an important milestone of literature and philosophy. The novella follows the outpourings of a bitterly lonely and isolated bureaucrat as he struggles to reconcile himself with the gloomy world he inhabits.
 
Publisher’s red cloth boards with gilt spine. Modest areas of mottling on front cover edge and rear cover. Top edge moderately dusty. Contents clean. Covers and gilt spine still largely bright. An excellent, Near Fine copy of a rare book(found in 8 libraries worldwide, no auction records). This volume also contains the first appearances of A Gentle Spirit and The Landlady. 
 
“The underground man struggles to define himself, and to place himself into the world, into a reality in which he feels he does not belong. What makes this novel unique is the infinite ability and desire the underground man possesses to indulge in introspection. He struggles to attain a sense of connection with the outside world, while simultaneously demanding free will and independence. He yearns to exist free from morality and subjugation to basic human nature. His failure to crawl out of the underground only adds levels of dimension to his struggle, and to the novel as an existentialist work. The underground man never escapes his suffering and alienation. At its core, his failure is caused by his paradox of need. He yearns to belong and yet demands to be independent. Notes from the Underground is…a window into the true nature of existentialism.”(Rapoport)
 
“Notes from the Underground was first published in January and February of 1864 as the featured presentation in the first two issues of The Epoch, Dostoevsky's second journal of the 1860s. The novel was written at one of the lowest points of Dostoevsky's career. His first journal, Time, had recently failed, his new journal was being threatened with failure, his wife was dying, his financial position was becoming ever more difficult and embarrassing, his conservatism was eroding his popularity with the liberal majority of the reading public, and he was increasingly the subject of attack in the liberal and radical press.”(University of Minnesota)