The Library of Stephen J. Farber

3 volumes, 8vo. Text in Cyrillic. Original photographic wrappers (spine slightly cocked on third volume); glassine covers; modern quarter morocco folding case. Provenance: James C. Seacrest (1938-2016); previously sold Heritage Auctions, 7 March 2018, sale 6186 lot 45178.

FIRST EDITION. IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS AND GLASSINE. The Gulag Archipelago was written following Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's return from exile for criticizing and plotting to overthrow the Soviet government under Joseph Stalin. Over the course of ten years he constructed his account of life in the Soviet Gulag from diary entries, newspaper accounts, internal documents, and his own experiences as a prisoner. In it, he lays responsibility for the forced labor system at the feet of Lenin and not Stalin, though makes clear that it was Stalin who vastly expanded on the framework already established. Though his life was relatively comfortable under the reign of Nikita Khrushchev, following his removal from power in 1964 Solzhenitsyn's work was looked upon with renewed suspicion and he found himself designated a "non-person" by the Soviet government.

Despite much of his writings being seized by the KGB, Solzhenitsyn continued to work on his manuscript in secret. From 1965 to 1967 his notes were painstakingly typewritten while in hiding at the homes of friends throughout Soviet Estonia. By 1973 the manuscript was complete. Solzhenitsyn's wish to have it published for the first time in Russia was dashed after one of the friends in whose houses the manuscript was typewritten was arrested and questioned by the KGB until she gave up the location of her copy of the finished typescript; according to Solzhenitsyn she hanged herself after being released. Because of this, the first edition was published in Paris by YMCA-Press. Translations into English and French were quickly printed and the book caused a stir throughout the western world. Following publication Solzhenitsyn was arrested, stripped of his Soviet citizenship and deported to West Germany. In the years since the fall of the Soviet Union, The Gulag Archipelago has been credited with helping to bring about its end.