190 years ago, the complete edition of Eugene Onegin first appeared in bookstores. Prior to that, the novel was published in separate chapters – the first of them was published in 1825. The output of each next became a sensation. No wonder that the first print run of the complete edition sold out instantly – a week later it was impossible to find it on sale. Today, a few dozen copies remain of the first edition of the novel, which Belinsky called “an encyclopedia of Russian life.” To have this in your collection is the dream of any bibliophile. Few are lucky. How much is the first complete edition of “Eugene Onegin” in the antique market, learned “MK”.
In September 1830, Alexander Pushkin finished work on the novel “Eugene Onegin” in Boldino and calculated that it took 7 years 4 months 17 days to create it. True, the full version was published only in 1833. The whole novel was printed by Alexander Smirdin’s printing house with a circulation of 2,400 copies at the end of March, and in early April, “Eugene Onegin” appeared on the shelves of his own bookstore. The Petersburg publisher and bookseller was generous with the poet – Pushkin’s fee amounted to 12 thousand rubles, which is about 10-12 million in modern money. The hardcover edition sold for 12 rubles. Until now, Onegin has been sold at a price unheard of in the annals of the book trade: for eight notebooks one had to pay 40 rubles! Whether there was a lot of extra collection here can be judged by the fact that now Onegin with additions and notes is sold for 12 rubles. Praise be to the poet who took pity on the skinny pockets of the people who read!” – wrote the correspondent of “Moscow Telegraph”, when the first complete edition of “Eugene Onegin” was published.
Today, the price of a copy of such a publication starts from a million rubles. So, in 2018, at one of the Russian auctions, the first edition of “Eugene Onegin” appeared – a book in a shabby cover, with tears in the margins, “fox” spots and without an advance title, was estimated at 950 thousand – 1 million rubles. But in the end, she went under the hammer for 2.2 million rubles. In January last year, a copy in worse condition (with scuffs along the edges of the binding, cracks in the lower part of the spine, stains and tears along the edges of the pages) was sold for one million rubles.
Earlier editions of “Eugene Onegin” – in separate notebooks – are more expensive. So, in 2019, at a Moscow auction, a novel in seven separately published chapters (1827–1832), published by the printing house of the Department of Public Education, went under the hammer for 4.6 million rubles. (with an estimate of 4.5–4.7 million). A few months before, in the summer of 2019, a set of three books (1st chapter – 1825, 2nd chapter – 1826, 3-8th chapters – 1827-1832) in original bindings were sold at Christie’s in London for £467,000, four times the original estimate. This is about 38.5 million rubles.
By the way, the text of “Eugene Onegin” familiar to the modern reader does not coincide with any of the publications published during Pushkin’s lifetime, including the first, full version of 1833. Over the years, the novel has undergone various changes, has been censored. The 2nd complete edition was published in 1837, shortly before Pushkin’s death, it contains the last author’s edition of the novel. But even after the death of the poet, subsequent editions were corrected. In 1937, on the centenary of Pushkin’s death, literary critic Boris Tomashevsky prepared a volume on the novel, which contains white and draft versions of the poem. A lot of work has been done to systematize all versions of Pushkin’s text, including the tenth chapter, which suffered most from censorship, but even this version of “Eugene Onegin” still causes controversy in the literary environment. So the first edition of 1833 is unique not only for its spirit of the “golden age” and the charm of the old binding, but also for its content itself.
Mikhail Seslavinsky, a well-known public figure, chairman of the National Union of Bibliophiles, tells about how important the first complete edition of the novel is for connoisseurs and specialists.
– It is obvious that for bibliophiles, collectors of rare and valuable books, “Eugene Onegin” in lifetime editions is a cherished dream. The birth of the novel for readers began with the publication of the first chapter in 1825. Then, from year to year, these chapters came out alternately. Excerpts were published in the almanacs of that time, for example, in the “Northern Flowers” or “Nevsky Almanac” for 1829, where they were first published with illustrations. But the complete edition, which was published in 1833 in the printing house of Alexander Smirdin, made it possible to read the entire novel in full by buying one book, and not to collect chapters that were published for 7 years. This volume was in great demand and therefore rarely found in our time on the antique market. Many old collectors told me that even in Soviet times it was almost impossible to buy a copy in good condition. Of the members of the National Union of Bibliophiles, the General Director of Channel One Konstantin Lvovich Ernst, the Editor-in-Chief of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper Pavel Nikolaevich Gusev and your humble servant can boast of having this book. I have this book on the shelf in a rather disheveled condition, strongly respected, requiring the restoration of several sheets. But this copy is all the more dear to me, because, leafing through its pages, I actually extend my hand to those first readers who, almost 200 years ago, read “Eugene Onegin” with the same pleasure and spiritual amazement.
— How rare are such books at auctions?
– It is believed that its circulation was 2400 copies, which is not so small in those days. Sometimes they come across, but one must be very careful when buying such copies, because modern craftsmen insert copies (xeroxes) of the title page and the 17th page, where the stamp of the state library is traditionally placed. On the whole, this edition is obligatory for those bibliophiles who collect Pushkinian literature during his lifetime, and is certainly a major pearl in the necklace of Alexander Sergeevich’s works. 1-2 times a year the publication appears at public auction. But this does not mean that 10-20 copies were sold at auctions for a conditional 10 years. Sometimes one copy appears on sale, and after 3-5 years it pops up again in catalogs and changes its owner. Such books tend to travel on the shelves of private libraries these days.
How many copies of that 1833 edition survive?
– Such a task was not set before the researchers – to count the remaining copies. This book can be found in the largest domestic book depositories – such as the Russian State Library (Leninka), the Russian National Library, Pushkin House. In general, the account, I think, is several dozen copies.
– And what could be its value now?
– A lot depends on the state of the instance. In good condition, this edition is almost impossible to find. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about prices. Each copy is individual: the presence of dirt, pages that were reproduced by facsimile, in other words, on a copier, missing pages – all this affects the price and determines the final cost. Any trades are still emotions. Sometimes there is absolutely no competition for a particular lot, and sometimes two buyers will “clash” and unnecessarily “lift up” the price. In fair condition, as a rule, the cost starts from a million rubles and reaches two or three. In surviving covers and in good condition – even higher.
Newspaper headline:
“Eugene Onegin” worth its weight in gold