The Petty Demon (First Edition)

Fyodor Sologub

Published by Random House, New York, 1962

About this Item

New York, Random House, 1962. First edition. First printing, as marked. Hardbound. Fine in a near fine jacket. A clean tight copy, with some slight foxing to side edge. Jacket is sun-darkened on spine, with slight wear to head and foot of spine. Publisher's price intact on front jacket flap ($4.95). Comes with archival-quality mylar jacket protector. Smoke-free. A novel, a new translation by Andrew Field. With an introduction by Ernest J. Simmons. A Symbolist novel, from 1905, published in a stand-alone edition in 1907 and quickly became popular, having ten printings during the author's lifetime. The novel recounts the story of the sadist schoolteacher Peredonov in an unnamed Russian provincial town. The grotesque Russian town and the world of The Petty Demon are incarnations of poshlost, a Russian concept that has characteristics of both evil and banality, and Peredonov and his demon Nedotykomka are the personifications of poshlost. As D. S. Mirsky wrote in 1925, "Peredonov has become the most famous and memorable character of Russian fiction since The Brothers Karamazov.".

Seller Inventory # Fiction-Russian-S

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Petty Demon (First Edition)
• Publisher: Random House, New York
• Publication Date: 1962
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Russian Literature