ANNA KARENINNA

New York, NY: Illustrated Editions Co., 1940. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. A. Zaidenberg (Illustrator). Text/Brand New & Bright. Vintage 1940 English Language Edition. Gilt embossed bi-color boards/NF w/trace wear to corner tips. DJ/None. Light discoloration to front/rear covers verso. Text blocks dyed red. Novel, ranked w/War and Peace, as outstanding work from Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy(1828 - 1910). First serialized (1873 - 1877) in The Russian Messenger & published in book form 1878. Set against realistic backdrop of rapid, liberal socio-eco-political transformations in Russian under Tsar Alexander II of The 1861 Emancipation which initiated judicial & military reforms, elected local governments (Zemstvo), developmental changes in railroads, banks, industry, telegraph,leading to rise of new business elites & decline of ld landed aristocracy, a freer press, awakening of public opinion, the Pan-Slavism movement, and military conflict with the Ottoman Empire in 1876 --- an age of overwhelming change which is hotly debated by the characters in the novel. Anna Karenina is populated by themes of hypocrisy, jealousy, faith, fidelity, family, marriage, society, progress, carnal desire and passion, and conflicts between rural & urban values. Tolstoi considered this his first "true novel". 212 pgs. Told in 8 parts, starring multiple major characters, dealing with betrayal, faith, family, marriage, Imperial Russian society, desire, and rural vs. city life. Plot centers on an extramarital affair between Anna and dashing cavalry officer Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky that scandalizes St. Petersburg society. The lovers flee to Italy and return to Russia where their lives unravel further. Trains are a recurring motif. Novel has been adapted to theatre, opera, film, tv, ballet, figure skating, & radio drama.