Lastovka: sochinenii na malorusskim iazyke [Lastovka: works in the Little Russian language].

£25,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Incredibly rare and important Ukrainian literary anthology which includes the work of Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Kotliarevsky. 'Lastovka' is one of the most interesting almanacs of the first half of the 19th century and marked an important step in the development of Ukrainian language literary works. The initial idea for the publication came from the writer Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko and work began on collecting material in 1838. The same year the editor, Yehven Hrebinka (who also worked on the publication of Kobzar in 1840) entered into talks with Krayevsky, the publisher of the major literary St Petersburg magazine 'Otechestvennye Zapiski'. However, Vissarion Belinsky who had overall say in the artistic direction of the magazine at the time was totally against printing Ukrainian works as he thought it was unnecessary and even harmful to publish literature in a language other than Russian. Hrebinka was left with the portfolio of collected material and didn't want it to go unpublished. Working with Shevchenko, he managed to print it under the title 'Lastovka' [Swallow] in 1841, bringing together some of the brightest Ukrainian voices of the time. The almanac proved immensely popular and cemented Shevchenko's position as one of the greatest writers. Hrebinka was equally passionate about Shevchenko, in a note for 'Haidamaky' he wrote, 'last year Shevchenko delighted us with "Kobzar", and now he has written again the poem "Haidamaky." It's a beautiful thing, very beautiful, as

• Binding: Hardcover

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