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First American Edition (NAP, Pantheon= NAP to circa 1964). This book was previously owned by the renowned sociologist Daniel Bell. He signed his name on the front end paper and penned lines at the margins of paragraphs of interest over a few early chapters, including First Loves And Politics. On the rear inside cover he also wrote some short notes next to the page numbers of five of the pages he had penned lines upon. The book is in very nice shape. The covers are very clean. They have very little wear, some crinkling at the spine ends, light rubbing at the corners, a small crease above the front bottom corner. The book is square and the spine is straight. The book is very solidly bound from cover to cover with nicely tight pages throughout and nicely tight covers as well. The pages are exceptionally clean. Scrolling through, I'm not finding any instances of soiling. There's very little creasing, just a tiny tip of the top corner crease on a dozen consecutive early pages. There are no placeholder creases. There are no stampings. No attachments of any kind. And the pages contain only Dr. Bell's writing. There are 24 illustrations. They all appear to be in excellent condition. The dust jacket, by contrast, has some wear, a tiny tear on the front above the letter 'P' in Pantheon, small corner losses or tears, a loss at the bottom edge of the spine, a smaller one at the top edge of the spine, a tear off the bottom edge of the front cover, one off the bottom edge of the rear cover, and the spine's color has faded. The flaps are in pretty decent shape, only minor wear, but all four corners are clipped and the price is removed. The jacket is protected by a fitted cover. From the dust jacket: 'The brief, passionate life of Russia's greatest poet is set against the background of Imperial Russia under the reins of the mad Czar Paul I, and his successors, Alexander I and Nicholas I. The author, a Russian-born French writer, describes Russian life and the Russian scene with intimate knowledge, and gives his main protagonist a vast canvas. While we follow the erratic course of the prodigally gifted but irascible and irrational Pushkin, the whole Russian nation comes to life: City and country; nobility, intellectuals, serfs; methods of government, police, administration semiconductor want family life, society, education. The eccentricity of the Russian aristocracy, the intrigues and scandals in the intellectual circles, and the court amours make a fascinating and colorful backdrop for a genius as dissolute and wayward as his environment. This is no 'fictionalized biography.' Throughout, the author uses contemporary documents to narrate his story. This gives the work its extraordinary vividness and authenticity, its value as a piece of history as well as a work of literature.'. Seller Inventory # 004511
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