Anna Karenina: Book I Paperback - 2013

Name: Anna Karenina: Book I
Price: 26.00 USD
Availability: InStock
ISBN: 9781494812737

by Leo Tolstoy

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About this book

Anna Karenina is a novel by Leo Tolstoy, published in 1877. The story is set in 19th-century Russia and follows the life of Anna Karenina, a married woman who embarks on an affair with the wealthy Count Vronsky. As their affair becomes more passionate, Anna must grapple with the societal norms and expectations of her time, which view infidelity as a serious transgression. The novel explores themes of love, desire, societal expectations, and the consequences of our actions. It is considered one of the greatest works of literature and a masterpiece of realist fiction.

The long novel was first serialized in the Russian periodical Ruskii Vestnik from 1873 to 1877, and first appeared in book form in 1878.

First Edition Identification

The first edition of Anna Karenina was published in Russian in 1878. It was published in three volumes, bound in contemporary three quarters calf over marbled boards, gilt titles, raised bands by T. Ris in Moscow. Anna Karenina’s first editions in Russian are rare.

The first English translation of Anna Karenina was published by Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. (1886). Binded in blue cloth, floral endpapers. It was translated by Nathan Haskell Dole and it included ads in both the front and the back of the book.

Details

Title Anna Karenina: Book I
Author Leo Tolstoy
Binding Paperback
Pages 662
Volumes 1
Language ENG
Publisher Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Date 2013-12-27
ISBN 9781494812737 / 1494812738
Weight 1.92 lbs (0.87 kg)
Dimensions 9 x 6 x 1.33 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 3.38 cm)
Reading level 790
Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About the author

Count Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, 1828, in Yasnaya Polyana, Russia. Orphaned at nine, he was brought up by an elderly aunt and educated by French tutors until he matriculated at Kazan University in 1844. In 1847, he gave up his studies and, after several aimless years, volunteered for military duty in the army, serving as a junior officer in the Crimean War before retiring in 1857. In 1862, Tolstoy married Sophie Behrs, a marriage that was to become, for him, bitterly unhappy. His diary, started in 1847 served as the source from which he drew much of the material that appeared not only in his great novels "War and Peace "(1869) and "Anna Karenina "(1877), but also in his shorter works. Seeking religious justification for his life, Tolstoy evolved a new Christianity based upon his own interpretation of the Gospels. Yasnaya Polyana, his longtime home, became a mecca for his many converts. At the age of eighty-two, while away from home, the writer suffered a break down in his health in Astapovo, Riazan, and he died there on November 20, 1910.
Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky have produced acclaimed translations of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Gogol, and Bulgakov. They have been awarded the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize for both "Anna Karenina "and "The Brothers Karamazov." They are married and live in Paris, France. John Bayley is a British novelist and literary critic. He has written studies of Tolstoy and Pushkin, among others. His memoir of his marriage to Iris Murdoch, "Elegy for Iris: A Memoir, " formed the basis of the 2001 film "Iris."
Coralie Bickford-Smith is an award-winning designer at Penguin Books (U.K.), where she has created several highly acclaimed series designs. She studied typography at Reading University and lives in London.