Description:

Lenin Vladimir

Vladimir Lenin Rare Excellent Content ALS Penned in Between the Failed Revolution of 1905 & the Successful Revolution of 1917, While in Exile in Berlin; Lenin Plots With Fellow Bolshevik: “Our hopes of an uptick in activity in the public life sphere seem to be fading. And it is not better with other matters, everything seems to cause a depression in me” -- With Superb Provenance!

 

A fantastic ALS written on a postcard from Berlin by the most important person in Russian history, Vladimir Lenin (Vladimir Ulianov aka Vladimir Lenin, 1870-1924). The rarity of Lenin manuscripts cannot be overstated; probably less than a dozen have passed through auction rooms in one hundred years, and many of those will never see the light of day again. Of that small number, some have been acquired by institutions.

 

This document was purchased around twenty years ago from the Mogilyansky family by legendary collector Alexander Lurye, considered the leading Russian autograph and book specialist in the world.  Peter Mogilyansky (1881-1921) was a lawyer, union activist, propagandist, and Revolution sympathizier from St. Petersburg who supported Bolshevism and was an acquaintance of Lenin, according to his descendants.

 

While it is not entirely clear if the postcard dated May 18, 1908 was sent from Berlin and forwarded through Italy, or if it was sent by Lenin while visiting Italy, it was certainly written and sent during the time he was in exile in Berlin.

 

Translated:

 

"Some time ago you mentioned your setbacks with Techn[ical] Soc[iety], etc. How are doing these days?  What’s new? Our hopes of an uptick in activity in the public life sphere seem to be fading. And it is not better with other matters, everything seems to cause a depression in me.

 

It is quite warm here-about 12 degrees[C] during the day. We are staying here till February, and by St. Cassian's Day expect to get back to St. Petersburg. [St. Cassian's Day=Feb. 29 by Gregorian Calendar]

 

Give our regards to Natalia, Alexandrovna and [Lyosha]. It feels odd to think that you can go skating. Occasionally I feel a yearning to feel cold, but [illegible]. What was the reason for Pirozhkov's bankruptcy?

 

Do write.

Yours,

[V. Lenin]

 

The front of the postcard depicts a detail from a painting entitled "The Concert" by Venetian master Titian. The caption reads: “Firenze - Galleria Pitti - Testa del Monaco, Particolare del Concerto. (Giorgione)”, suggesting that, in 1908, the painting was attributed to another famous Renaissance artist of the Venetian School, Giorgione. Regardless of the artistic attribution, the subject of the postcard illustrates Lenin's interest in classical music. The postcard was addressed to: "Peter Mogilyansky / Bolshoi Prospect / Petrograd District 11 / Apt. 32 / St. Petersburg, Russia".

 

Born to a moderately prosperous middle-class family in Simbirsk, Lenin embraced revolutionary socialist politics following his brother's 1887 execution. Expelled from Kazan Imperial University for participating in protests against the Russian Empire’s Tsarist government, Lenin devoted the following years to obtaining a law degree. He moved to St. Petersburg in 1893 and became a senior Marxist activist. In 1897, he was arrested for sedition and exiled to Shushenskoye for three years, where he married his wife. After his exile, he moved to Western Europe, where he became a prominent theorist in the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP). In 1903, he took a key role in a RSDLP ideological split, leading the Bolshevik faction against Julius Martov’s Mensheviks. Encouraging insurrection during Russia's failed Revolution of 1905, he later campaigned for World War I to be transformed into a European-wide proletarian revolution, which as a Marxist he believed would precipitate the overthrow of capitalism and its replacement with socialism. After the 1917 February Revolution ousted the Tsar and established a Provisional Government, Lenin returned to Russia. He played a leading role in the October Revolution, in which the Bolsheviks overthrew the new regime.

 

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

 

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