Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 1
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 2
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 3
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 4
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 5
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 6
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 7
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934) - photo 8

Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)

Lot 20
01.12.2021 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 2 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 681136
Lot 20 | Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Estimate value
£ 1 800 – 2 500
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
On his timid and taciturn nature. 1933
Autograph letter signed ('B. Bugaev') to Boris Viktorovich Tomashevsky, Moscow, 3 August [1933].

In Russian. Four pages, 142 x 110mm, in purple ink, on a bifolium. Envelope.

On his timid and taciturn nature: 'I always have to, as it were, speak aloud, accumulating pebbles in my mouth'. Bely writes warmly on his return to Moscow from the holiday at Koktebel in the Crimea where he and his wife had met the Tomashevskys: 'thank you for the joy of communication ... with both of you it was so simple, unpretentious, human, musical. I am very happy to have met you both...'. He is exhausted after the weeks of sociability at Koketebel: this went against the grain of his 'very taciturn, inwardly quiet and timid' nature. This, he has long realised, is the 'theme' of his life, one which is 'tongue-tied, constantly surmounted by an artificially fabricated language (I always have to, as it were, speak aloud, accumulating pebbles in my mouth); hence, exhaustion; and the search for inner silence'. The 'easy, quiet and simple' friendship with the Tomashevskys was therefore all the more precious, and Bely concludes the letter with the hope that their meeting will be 'the beginning of our acquaintance'.

Published by A.V. Lavrov in Andrey Bely: Investigations and Studies. Boris Tomashevsky (1890-1957) was a literary critic, theorist and leading Pushkin scholar, based at Pushkin House from 1921 onwards. Although Tomashevsky's own criticism had been inspired from the outset by the statistical poetics set out by Bely in his seminal 1910 work, Symbolism, the personal friendship between the two men had only been established during the holiday at Koktebel which immediately preceded the present letter. Bely's holiday was cut short by ill-health (culminating in his death on 8 January 1934), but their subsequent correspondence is an important source for the last months of his life.

Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
17.11.2021 – 01.12.2021
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

More from Creator

Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£1 800
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£800
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£800
Andrey Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrey Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£1 800
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£3 500
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£1 000
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
Andrei Bely (Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev, 1880-1934)
£900
Andrey Bely (1880-1934)
Andrey Bely (1880-1934)
£4 500

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.