Reminiscences of a Russian Antiquarian Bookseller

About the Book

Paula Israelewicz, the Russian-born linguist and librarian has made available to Western readers, in an English translation, Reminiscences of a Russian Antiquarian Bookseller, the memoirs, written at an advanced age by eldest Moscow book dealer L.A. Glazer. The volume recounts Glazer’s sixty years’ experience in the book world of his time and place. Throughout the eight chapters, Glazer gives the reader a detailed account of his encounters with booklovers in all walks of life; noted bibliophiles, scholars, bookmen and bibliographers, writers, actors, musicians and also students whom he inspired with an interest for books. The many ‘treasures’ and private collections handled by Glazer during his long career are described in the book, mostly Russian works from the 16th to the 20th century, writings of Russian authors such as Pushkin and many others.

The beginning of Glazer’s career coincided with a period after the revolution. For the Western reader it is interesting to realize that even under the Soviet regime ‘normal’ life went on in the milieu dedicated to books. Perhaps reading and book collecting constituted an ‘escape’ from the troubles of daily life, the persecutions of the Stalin era, and the horrors of World War Two.

About the Author

Lev Abramovitch Glazer was one of Russia’s most renowned antiquarian bookdealers. He began his career in 1924, in the early post-revolutionary years, and continued until the 1980s. Glazer lived through a tremendously complex period full of triumphs and tragedies, all the time maintaining a personal focus on his love of books and the people who devoted their lives to them.