#alexander pushkin

[enchantedbook]

'Tatiana Larina's Dream ' by Ivan Volkov, 1891.

[merildae]

Books I’ve read since starting T, 2024

Oil on canvas

24 x 18 in.

[pasdetrois]

Сказка о мёртвой царевне и о семи богатырях / The Tale of the Dead Princess and the Seven Knights (1951) dir. Ivan Ivanov-Vano

[metamorphesque]

"I Loved You", Alexander Pushkin (translated by Antony Wood)

[iforgiveyouprime]

I recently found out that Pushkin has a poem that makes me want to cry:

At Eden's gate a gentle angel

Stood shining with a bowed-down head,

While dark and fierce, the rebel demon

Above the hellish chasm sped.

The spirit born of doubt and scorning

Upon the spirit pure did gaze,

And felt, through unexpected yearning,

A tender warmth for the first days.

"Forgive me," then he softly uttered,

"I saw you, and your light was true;

Not all within this world I hated,

Not all within this world I rue."

[didanagy]

RUSLAN AND LUDMILA (1972) dir. aleksandr ptushko

[sophachipupa]

"Exegi monumentum" - Alexander Pushkin

"And long the people yet will honour me

Because my lyre was tuned to loving-kindness

And in a cruel age, I sang of Liberty

And mercy begged of Justice in her blindness"

alexander pushkin is the most famous russian poet, im not a big fan of his poetry, but I think it is very suitable for venti

[uwmspeccoll]

Pushkin in Translation

This 1943 Limited Editions Club edition of Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin (first published in 1833) is not just a book — it’s a carefully crafted object. The volume features original lithographs by German-American illustrator Fritz Eichenberg (1901-1990) and a special rag paper with the smooth hand-finished, deep-toned surface made exclusively for this volume by The Worthy Paper Company. The binding is of boards covered with polished black leather and a printed pattern developed from a drawing by Eichenberg, using early “repeat-pattern” photography.

The text itself was translated by American poet Babette Deutsch (1895-1982) and edited by her husband Avrahm Yarmolinsky (1890-1975), a leading figure in Slavic studies in New York. Printed on custom paper with elegant Bodoni type, the book reflects a moment when literature, design, and craftsmanship came together as one.

Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), is often called the creator of modern Russian literature because he brought everyday spoken language into “high” literature. At a time when the aristocracy preferred French or English, he chose to write in Russian and to describe ordinary life and real emotions, especially in Eugene Onegin, influenced by Romanticism and writers like Byron. His work helped shape the Russian literary language, but it was also deeply connected to the imperial world he lived in. He wrote about freedom and individuality, yet at the same time contributed to a cultural tradition that later became central to imperial identity. This contradiction is what makes Pushkin so interesting — not just as a great writer, but as a figure who shows how culture is created within systems of power.

The illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg add another layer to this intersection. A German artist who fled Europe during World War II, he brought his mastery of printmaking into this edition. His work transforms the text into something visual and atmospheric, multiplying meaning through image just as Pushkin did through language.

This book is more than a classic — it’s a meeting point of cultures, histories, and artistic traditions.

View other posts with works by Alexander Pushkin.

View other posts with illustrations by Fritz Eichenberg.

View other posts with Russian literature.

-- Kate, Special Collections Graduate Art History Fieldworker