A priceless relic from the legendary publisher Academia is up for sale

MOSCOW. A decision was made to participate in the auction of the most expensive book from the destroyed publisher.

The existence of a signal copy of Dostoevsky’s “Demons”, which “survived” after the destruction of the entire circulation of the first volume, published by Academia in 1935, was not known until recently. The partnership on shares founded in 1921 lasted until 1937. His last leader, Yan Davidovich Janson, who shared the sad fate of the previous directors, was shot at the Butovo-Kommunarka firing range. Only one of the founders and the first director of Academia, Alexander Alexandrovich Krolenko, was lucky enough not to get into the meat grinder of repressions and live to be 81 years old.

Ilya Ionov, who came to replace him, firmly defended the party line, looking for its enemies in the ranks of employees. And that “Noah’s Ark”, which, according to Shklovsky’s definition, was the publishing house for the intelligentsia that remained in Russia, was gradually destroying. Lev Kamenev, who was arrested after the Kirov assassination and shot in 1936, was one of the best leaders of Academia, who contributed to the release of the best works of domestic and foreign literature, adhering to the highest standards of design and quality of the materials used. It was he who initiated the publication of The Demons by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, known for his anti-revolutionary message.

After the arrest of Kamenev and the beginning of trials over him, Pravda published an article called Literary Rot, in which the Demons were called a dirty libel. Organizational conclusions in the form of elimination of printed copies of the first volume and a ban on the publication of the second did not have to wait long.

The surviving copy for decades was one of the most coveted bibliographic rarities, the possession of which any respectable collector dreamed of. In March 2016, this became a reality. The auction will be held on April 7. It is assumed that at least 5 million will be saved for the bibliographic treasure.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru