[First edition] Florentinskaya tragediya v odnom deystvii (A Florentine Tragedy in One Act)

First edition of Wilde's "Florentine Tragedy". First Russian translation.

Can a classic of world literature be published first in Russian and only then in English? For the first time, the "Florentine Tragedy" appeared on the shelves of Moscow stores in a Russian translation.

At the beginning of 20th century thanks to the efforts of symbolists Oscar Wilde became one of the symbols of the "new literature" on a par with Ibsen, Maeterlinck and Nietzsche. By 1906, Oscar Wilde had become one of the most widely read foreign authors in Russia. Of course, Robert Ross was very surprised when, in the same year, Wilde's bibliographer, Stuart Mason, introduced him to a young translator from Russia — Mikhail Likardopulo. He would have been even more surprised if he had learned the whole story of Licardopoulo's life — it was as mysterious and dramatic as the story of the author of the tragedy.

Michael was born in a Greek family in Naples, a city, which Oscar Wilde often visited in the last years of his life. He came to Russia under unclear circumstances, but immediately became one of the leaders of the symbolist circle. A brilliant expert in Russian and English, he became one of the best translators of his time. Korney Chukovsky, who often ridiculed Balmont's translations, had a high opinion of Licardopoulo's works and often preferred them to his own translations.

Russian Greek's life took an unexpected turn after the story of the publication of "Tragedy": in the First World War, disguised as a Greek merchant, went to collect information on the assignment of Russian intelligence in Germany. There were rumors about his work for the British secret services. He died in Brighton in 1922 at the age of 42 – also under unclear circumstances.

It was this man, who asked Ross in 1906 whether he would agree to the translation and publication of the "Florentine Tragedy" in Russia.

At the time, Robert Ross was most concerned about his friend's name being forgotten or suppressed.

Having heard that in Russia local poets extol not only what Wilde wrote, but also his life and his sufferings, Ross could not help but be fired up by the idea of publishing. Russia was not a member of any European copyright conventions, which meant that it was possible to print the manuscript there.

After successful negotiations, Michael Licardopulo took away from England a copy of the manuscript made by Mason, who soon went to serve a six-month prison sentence for his non-traditional orientation.

In the summer of 1907, "The Florentine Tragedy", the last of Wilde's unpublished plays, was published in Russia.

As of April 2021, KVK and WorldCat show three copies outside Russia only.