RARUS'S GALLERY

The Son of Fatherland and Northern Archive. Sankt-Petersbourg, 1829, №12, vol. 2, p.p. 301-302, Gogol N.V. «Italy». A poem. Unsigned. The first publication of the Great Russian writer! Contemporary slightly worn full leather binding , with the gold lettering on the spine of the book. Top and foot of spine and hinges very slightly chipped. Inside a very clean and fresh copy without a printed covers. Format: 21x13,5 cm. Extremely rare! It’s a great culture and historic object.

As we know, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol [1809-1852] studied at the Nezhin Gymnasium of High Sciences from 1821 to 1828, but he was quite an ordinary student. His compositions in literature showed numerous grammar mistakes. Gogol was especially poor at languages but, in principle, he studied like others, not being specially outstanding. On December 13, 1828, he left Ukraine to win the Northern Metropolis, capital of the Russian Empire and the most cosmopolitan of its cities, where he immediately sought-unsuccessfully at first.-the acquaintance of Russia’s premier poet and pre-eminent aristocratic dandy. In January 1829, he settled at merchant Galubin's (Gorokhovaya Street in Saint Petersburg). He failed to join the state service. After these troubles, he tried himself in literature; it was his feature: if he lost one thing, he started another. Probably, Gogol thought of his work in literature when he studied at the gymnasium. Certainly he had got some "precursors": both «Italy» and «Hanz Kuechelgarten» evidenced this idea. In «Hanz», the topic of Italy sounds repeatedly:

Italy — a luxurious country!

My soul is groaning and missing.

Or:

A land of love and sea of charms!

A garden shining in the temporal desert!

The garden, where in the cloud of dreams

Raphael and Torquat still live!

Pay attention to the date of permission by censure for «Son of Fatherland and S. A.», where «Italy» is placed: February 22, 1829. This means that just in a few days or weeks after his arrival to the metropolis Gogol send or brought his manuscript to the editorial board thus making the first step in his literary career. «Hanz Kuechelgarten» [later he burn all the unsold copies] was published under a pseudonym Alow only in June, but already in winter, foreseeing the terrible fiasco, he started with enthusiasm to collect ethnographic and philological materials about Ukraine as he saw the Petersburg public interest in everything Ukrainian. Here he was pragmatic. But the theme of Italy would accompany him all his life, because from March 1837 Rome would enter his life for a long time... The first publication is like the first love, once and forever!

Reference literature:

1. N.V. Gogol «Complete set of works in 23 v.v.». Moscow, 2001 [The new academic edition]. Vol. 4, p.p. 866-870.

2. Kilgour (to be absent).

3. P.A. Kulish «Some features for N. V. Gogol's biography», Sankt-Petersbourg «Otechestvennye zapiski», 1852, №4, department 8, p. 200.

4. Kulish P.A. «Experience of N. V. Gogol's biography», Sankt-Petersbourg, 1854, p.p. 35-36.