First printing of Tolstoy’s epic novel in the English language, with all six volumes dated 1886 on the title page. Five of these volumes are a scarce variant, as described below.
Publisher and Year: New York: William Gottsberger, 1886
Edition: First American edition, all first printings with the title pages dated 1886. Five of these volumes are from the scarce “export issue” prepared for European distribution (Before Tilsit I, The Invasion I–II, Borodino I–II), and one volume is from the domestic issue intended for the American market (Before Tilsit II). The export issue is scarce. A comprehensive review of auction and dealer records reveals only one complete set of the export issue ever offered for sale (the same set appears twice at auction and later in a dealer catalog).
Gottsberger published War and Peace in three two-volume sets across 1886 (January, May, July),1-3 all preceding Vizetelly’s British edition (October).4-7 The translation, by Clara Bell, was rendered into English from a French translation published several years earlier. Vizetelly pirated Bell’s text without attribution.8
The publisher issued the novel in wrappers ($3.00) and cloth ($5.25). Most copies were distributed in the domestic market, with a smaller subset exported to Europe. The export issue used identical covers and sheets but with altered title pages, copyright pages, and advertisement leaves. The title pages add “Authorized Edition” and Gottsberger’s distribution partners in London, Paris, and Leipzig. The copyright pages introduce the statement, “This edition is published expressly for circulation in Europe by authority of Count Leo Tolstoi” (a dubious claim),9 and omit the cursive Gottsberger imprint. Although that imprint is commonly treated as an issue point for the domestic issue, it is not diagnostic: all domestic copies dated 1886 bear it. Its omission in the export issue is logical, as the title and copyright pages were designed to de-emphasize the American publisher.
Condition and Description: Small octavo, publisher's brown cloth stamped in black and gilt, Romanov and Napoleonic seals to front board, brown endpapers; Vol 1: 322 pp, publisher's ads; Vol 2: 357 pp, ads; Vol 3: 321 pp; Vol 4: 270 pp; Vol 5: 290 pp, ads; Vol 6: 391 pp. Gilt bright. General shelf wear and handling marks to the boards, as shown. Tips bumped with most exposed. Spine ends softened and frayed. All hinges and binding tight, other than The Invasion I (front gutter just starting but secure; rear endpapers cracked but hinge sound; over-opened in a few places with threads showing and some signatures proud; but all pages attached). The hinges of the other volumes remain excellent. Before Tilsit I has a stain to the bottom edge of front board; faint damp stain to the top and bottom edge of text block, not intruding upon the text, but affecting a small portion of the brown endpapers; illegible pencil note or name on the rear pastedown; small pencil mark and a couple of small stains to the fore-edge of the text block; and faint staining and to the rear board. Closeups of Before Tilsit I and The Invasion I presented at the end of the photo sequence. A handsome set of Tolstoy's epic novel.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.”
War and Peace is a vast study of human life during the Napoleonic era, following several aristocratic families as they move through the upheavals of invasion. Tolstoy called it “not a novel, even less a poem, and still less a historical chronicle,” and structured it accordingly: a blend of intimate realism and wide philosophical reflection, alternating scenes of battle and domestic life with essays on free will and causation. The book’s realism arose from Tolstoy’s meticulous use of historical documents, eyewitness accounts, and some 160 named figures drawn from the record of the Napoleonic Wars. It quickly became a central monument of world literature, shaping the form of the modern historical novel and influencing writers from Dostoevsky and Flaubert to Proust, Woolf, and Hemingway. The novel remains widely regarded as among the best of all time.
References:
Gottsberger’s American Publication Dates
1. The Literary World, 23 Jan 1886, Boston, p 34. (Before Tilsit listed under “Just Published”)
2. The Critic, 1 May 1886, New York, p iii. (The Invasion listed under “Just Published”)
3. The Critic, 17 Jul 1886, New York, p iii. (Borodino listed under “Just Published”)
Vizetelly’s Publication Date
4. The Publisher’s Circular, London, 15 Oct 1886, p 1241. (Vizetelly’s edition listed under “Books Published between October 1 and October 15”)
5. The Bookseller, London, 8 Oct 1886, p 1121. (listed under “Vizetelly & Co.’s New Books”)
6. The Spectator, 9 Oct 1886, London, p 1367. (listed under “Vizetelly & Co.’s New Books”)
7. St. Stephen’s Review, 16 Oct 1886, London, p 19. (listed under “Vizetelly & Co.’s New Books”)
Vizetelly’s Pirating of Gottsberger’s Text
8. Russomania: Russian Culture and the Creation of British Modernism, 1881–1922. p 98. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2020.
The "Authorized" Status of Gottsberger's Text
9. We can find no direct evidence that Tolstoy authorized Gottsberger's text or distribution in academic publications or his surviving correspondence. Tolstoy did supply his agent with Gottsberger's address on 11 December 1886, but this was long after Gottsberger published their text, and the motivation for this letter is not clear. We cannot find discussion of Clara Bell or any English translation in his correspondence from 1886 or earlier.
Inventory ID: 463 - 386 - 938
First printing of Tolstoy’s epic novel in the English language, with all six volumes dated 1886 on the title page. Five of these volumes are a scarce variant, as described below.
Publisher and Year: New York: William Gottsberger, 1886
Edition: First American edition, all first printings with the title pages dated 1886. Five of these volumes are from the scarce “export issue” prepared for European distribution (Before Tilsit I, The Invasion I–II, Borodino I–II), and one volume is from the domestic issue intended for the American market (Before Tilsit II). The export issue is scarce. A comprehensive review of auction and dealer records reveals only one complete set of the export issue ever offered for sale (the same set appears twice at auction and later in a dealer catalog).
Gottsberger published War and Peace in three two-volume sets across 1886 (January, May, July),1-3 all preceding Vizetelly’s British edition (October).4-7 The translation, by Clara Bell, was rendered into English from a French translation published several years earlier. Vizetelly pirated Bell’s text without attribution.8
The publisher issued the novel in wrappers ($3.00) and cloth ($5.25). Most copies were distributed in the domestic market, with a smaller subset exported to Europe. The export issue used identical covers and sheets but with altered title pages, copyright pages, and advertisement leaves. The title pages add “Authorized Edition” and Gottsberger’s distribution partners in London, Paris, and Leipzig. The copyright pages introduce the statement, “This edition is published expressly for circulation in Europe by authority of Count Leo Tolstoi” (a dubious claim),9 and omit the cursive Gottsberger imprint. Although that imprint is commonly treated as an issue point for the domestic issue, it is not diagnostic: all domestic copies dated 1886 bear it. Its omission in the export issue is logical, as the title and copyright pages were designed to de-emphasize the American publisher.
Condition and Description: Small octavo, publisher's brown cloth stamped in black and gilt, Romanov and Napoleonic seals to front board, brown endpapers; Vol 1: 322 pp, publisher's ads; Vol 2: 357 pp, ads; Vol 3: 321 pp; Vol 4: 270 pp; Vol 5: 290 pp, ads; Vol 6: 391 pp. Gilt bright. General shelf wear and handling marks to the boards, as shown. Tips bumped with most exposed. Spine ends softened and frayed. All hinges and binding tight, other than The Invasion I (front gutter just starting but secure; rear endpapers cracked but hinge sound; over-opened in a few places with threads showing and some signatures proud; but all pages attached). The hinges of the other volumes remain excellent. Before Tilsit I has a stain to the bottom edge of front board; faint damp stain to the top and bottom edge of text block, not intruding upon the text, but affecting a small portion of the brown endpapers; illegible pencil note or name on the rear pastedown; small pencil mark and a couple of small stains to the fore-edge of the text block; and faint staining and to the rear board. Closeups of Before Tilsit I and The Invasion I presented at the end of the photo sequence. A handsome set of Tolstoy's epic novel.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.”
War and Peace is a vast study of human life during the Napoleonic era, following several aristocratic families as they move through the upheavals of invasion. Tolstoy called it “not a novel, even less a poem, and still less a historical chronicle,” and structured it accordingly: a blend of intimate realism and wide philosophical reflection, alternating scenes of battle and domestic life with essays on free will and causation. The book’s realism arose from Tolstoy’s meticulous use of historical documents, eyewitness accounts, and some 160 named figures drawn from the record of the Napoleonic Wars. It quickly became a central monument of world literature, shaping the form of the modern historical novel and influencing writers from Dostoevsky and Flaubert to Proust, Woolf, and Hemingway. The novel remains widely regarded as among the best of all time.
References:
Gottsberger’s American Publication Dates
1. The Literary World, 23 Jan 1886, Boston, p 34. (Before Tilsit listed under “Just Published”)
2. The Critic, 1 May 1886, New York, p iii. (The Invasion listed under “Just Published”)
3. The Critic, 17 Jul 1886, New York, p iii. (Borodino listed under “Just Published”)
Vizetelly’s Publication Date
4. The Publisher’s Circular, London, 15 Oct 1886, p 1241. (Vizetelly’s edition listed under “Books Published between October 1 and October 15”)
5. The Bookseller, London, 8 Oct 1886, p 1121. (listed under “Vizetelly & Co.’s New Books”)
6. The Spectator, 9 Oct 1886, London, p 1367. (listed under “Vizetelly & Co.’s New Books”)
7. St. Stephen’s Review, 16 Oct 1886, London, p 19. (listed under “Vizetelly & Co.’s New Books”)
Vizetelly’s Pirating of Gottsberger’s Text
8. Russomania: Russian Culture and the Creation of British Modernism, 1881–1922. p 98. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2020.
The "Authorized" Status of Gottsberger's Text
9. We can find no direct evidence that Tolstoy authorized Gottsberger's text or distribution in academic publications or his surviving correspondence. Tolstoy did supply his agent with Gottsberger's address on 11 December 1886, but this was long after Gottsberger published their text, and the motivation for this letter is not clear. We cannot find discussion of Clara Bell or any English translation in his correspondence from 1886 or earlier.
Inventory ID: 463 - 386 - 938
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