Sonnets Adam Mickiewicz [FIRST EDITION / Moscow 1826].

One of the rarest first editions of Adam Mickiewicz. Contains 22 Odessa sonnets and 18 Crimean sonnets. Linen binding from the 19th century [later].

The edition was considered exquisite, it was published on durable paper, carefully refined typographically, used legible fonts of an attractive typeface (especially in the titling and dedication to the Crimean Sonnets). The text was proofread by Franciszek Malewski. The book was published in the Moscow University Printing House, completing the printing in December 1826. The publication was published at the expense of the poet himself, and it is possible that Joanna Zaleska, née Rybinskaya Zaleska, to whom Mickiewicz donated one of the pieces (unfortunately, not preserved) with a dedication, contributed to its cost: "Such a beautiful dressing of the present work is owed by the author to his best friend [...]".

Two lithographed pages of the Persian translation of the fifth sonnet were attached to part of the edition: "View of the Mountains from the Steppes of Kozlov", which the offered piece does not have. The St. Petersburg-issued cards with the Persian text and a separate censorship permit are sometimes treated in the history of bibliography as a separate item from the Moscow Sonnets.

It is not known how many pieces of the Sonnets with a lithographic supplement were produced - nor is the amount of the Sonnets' circulation known. All that is known is that Mickiewicz sent about 500 pieces to Warsaw, from which book historians have deduced that at least 1,000 pieces were probably all printed.