Földvári Books

Inscribed First Edition of Kollontai’s First Book

[Kollontai, Alexandra] Коллонта́й, Алекса́ндра

Жизнь финляндскихъ рабочихъ. Экономическое изслѣдованіе. [Zhizn finlyandskikh rabochikh. Ekonomicheskoe izslyedovanie. / The Life of the Finnish Workers. An Economic Study.]

S.-Peterburg [Saint Petersburg]: T-vo Khudozhestvennoi pechati, 1903. First edition. Presentation copy, inscribed by Kollontai on front cover: “To highly esteemed Ekaterina Vasilievna, from the author, A. Kollontai. October 1903”. In hard paper binding. (8), 355, (1) p. Binding somewhat worn, restored. The sewing string of binding damaged a few leaves inside. Otherwise clean. Overall in good condition.

Extremely scarce inscribed first edition of Kollontai’s first book, an economic study about the Finnish workers.

The ‘Life of the Finnish Workers’ was Kollontai’s “major socio-economic investigation of the living and working condition of the Finnish workers and peasant in relation to industry”. Her “first articles on Finnland appeared in 1900. For the next 20 years, she was generally recognized as the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party’s (RSDLP) foremost expert on the ‘Finnish question’, writing numerous articles and serving as an advisor to RSDLP members in the Tsarist Duma and as a liaison with Finnish revolutionaries. She took a keen interest in the Finnish struggle for independence, (Kollontai’s mother was from Finland), helped the Finnish workers to organize into trade unions and wrote articles about the struggle between the Finnish people and the the Russian autocracy. Well known for her sympathy for Finland, Kollontai urged the Finns to seek independence in 1917. […]. The book attracted much attention among revolutionary circles and established her fame as noteworthy Marxist political economist and a respected expert in the working-class question.” (Saarinen, et al., 2014.)

Alexandra Mikhailovna Kollontai (1872–1952) was a Russian revolutionary, as early feminist active in international Socialist Women's movement, foremost advocator of free love. In 1917 elected to Central Committee and served as Commissar for Social Welfare in the Soviet government. One of the first women in modern time to hold the post of ambassador in 1923.

Inscribed books by Kollontai are extremely scarce. This work, her first book, is also a rarity itself. We could trace only one copy in institutional holdings in US, and six in Europe.

[Bibl.: Saarinen, A., Ekonen, K., Uspenskaia, V.: Women and Transformation in Russia. London, New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2014. pp. 78–79.]

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Price: €5,500.00