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Letters from prison. The letters included in this collection are addressed to Sophia Liebknecht.

Letters from prison. The letters included in this collection are addressed to Sophia Liebknecht.

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Letters from prison. The letters included in this collection are addressed to Sophia Liebknecht.: Письма из тюрьмы - Письма, вошедшие в этот сборник, адресованы Софии Либкнехт

by LUXEMBURG, Rosa

  • Used
  • first
Condition
See description
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Seller rating:
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Richelieu, France
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About This Item

St Petersburg: State publishing house, 1921. Softback. First Edition. Text in Russian. The covers are in good, clean condition, with just a touch of marking to them. Although printed on cheap paper, internally the work is clean and tidy, with just a little darkening and rusting to the staples. Illegible owner's signature to the top edge of the title page. The letters included in this collection are addressed to Sophie Liebknecht, wife of Karl Liebknecht. The letters are not political, and only rarely mention politics. Instead, they are personal letters between two friends, and she speaks of the natural world, and botany, which greatly interested her. This appears to be the true first of these letters. There was a Moscow printing of "Letters from Prison" in 1920, but this was of a different length, and as far as we can see, was not the letters to Sophie Liebknecht. We are unable to trace FirstSearch records of this edition. The Letters were subsequently published in English in 1923, and in French in 1933. Although we think of Soviet St Petersburg as Leningrad, in fact, the name was not changed until 1924. With Karl Liebknecht, Luxemburg founded the International Group / Spartacus League. They opposed Germany's stance in the First World War, and urged worker's strikes to undermine this. As a result, Luxemburg and Liebknecht were imprisoned in June 1916 for two and a half years. (It was during this time that these letters were written). Luxemburg continued to write and friends secretly smuggled out and illegally published her articles. Among them was "Die Russische Revolution", criticising the Bolsheviks and accusing them of seeking to impose a totalitarian single party state upon the Soviet Union. In that context, she wrote the infamous dictum "Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" ("Freedom is always the freedom of the one who thinks differently.") Luxemburg and Liebknecht were freed from prison in November 1918. On 1st January 1919 the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) was founded under the leadership of Liebknecht and Luxemburg. Shortly afterwards, they were both leading the Spartacist uprising (German: Spartakusaufstand), also known as the January uprising (Januaraufstand), an armed uprising that took place in Berlin from 5 to 12 January 1919. Around 150 members of the uprising died, the most prominent being Liebknecht and Luxemburg, who were arrested, tortured and shot on January 15th. Her body was dumped in the Landwehr canal. Despite her criticism of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, she swiftly became a Soviet martyr. Lenin executed four Grand Dukes in retaliation. 18×12.5 cm 71 pages. . Couverture souple. Première édition. Les couvertures sont en bon état, propres, avec juste un peu de marques. Bien qu'imprimé sur du papier bon marché, l'ouvrage est propre et bien rangé, avec juste un peu de noircissement et de rouille aux agrafes. Signature illisible du propriétaire sur le bord supérieur de la page de titre. Les lettres incluses dans ce recueil sont adressées à Sophie Liebknecht, épouse de Karl Liebknecht. Les lettres ne sont pas politiques et ne mentionnent que rarement la politique. Il s'agit plutôt de lettres personnelles entre deux amies, dans lesquelles elle parle de la nature et de la botanique, qui l'intéressent beaucoup. Il semble qu'il s'agisse de la véritable première de ces lettres. Il y a eu une impression moscovite des "Lettres de prison" en 1920, mais elle était d'une longueur différente et, pour autant que nous puissions le voir, il ne s'agissait pas des lettres à Sophie Liebknecht. Nous ne sommes pas en mesure de retrouver la trace de cette édition dans FirstSearch. Les Lettres ont ensuite été publiées en anglais en 1923 et en français en 1933. Bien que nous considérions que le Saint-Pétersbourg soviétique s'appelle Leningrad, le nom n'a été changé qu'en 1924. Avec Karl Liebknecht, Luxemburg fonde l'International Group / Spartacus League. Ils s'opposent à la position de l'Allemagne dans la Première Guerre mondiale et encouragent les grèves ouvrières pour saper cette position. En conséquence, Luxemburg et Liebknecht sont emprisonnés en juin 1916 pour deux ans et demi. (C'est pendant cette période que ces lettres ont été écrites). Luxemburg continua d'écrire et ses amis firent passer secrètement ses articles en contrebande et les publièrent illégalement. Parmi ceux-ci, "Die Russische Revolution" (La révolution russe) critique les bolcheviks et les accuse de vouloir imposer un État totalitaire à parti unique à l'Union soviétique. C'est dans ce contexte qu'elle a écrit le dicton tristement célèbre "Freiheit ist immer die Freiheit des Andersdenkenden" ("La liberté est toujours la liberté de celui qui pense différemment"). Luxemburg et Liebknecht ont été libérés de prison en novembre 1918. Le 1er janvier 1919, le Parti communiste allemand (KPD) est fondé sous la direction de Liebknecht et Luxemburg. Peu de temps après, ils prennent tous deux la tête du soulèvement spartakiste (en allemand : Spartakusaufstand), également connu sous le nom de soulèvement de janvier (Januaraufstand), un soulèvement armé qui a lieu à Berlin du 5 au 12 janvier 1919. Environ 150 membres du soulèvement ont trouvé la mort, les plus connus étant Liebknecht et Luxemburg, qui ont été arrêtés, torturés et fusillés le 15 janvier. Son corps est jeté dans le canal de la Landwehr. Malgré ses critiques à l'égard de Lénine et des bolcheviks, elle devient rapidement une martyre soviétique. Lénine exécute quatre grands ducs en représailles. 18×12,5 cm 71 pages.

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Details

Bookseller
Harrison-Hiett Rare Books FR (FR)
Bookseller's Inventory #
4425
Title
Letters from prison. The letters included in this collection are addressed to Sophia Liebknecht.
Author
LUXEMBURG, Rosa
Book Condition
Used
Publisher
State publishing house
Place of Publication
St Petersburg
Date Published
1921
Weight
0.00 lbs
Keywords
Politics, history, russian, revolution, Sophia Liebknecht, revolutionary, soviet, protest, political, prison, prisons, Politique, histoire, russe, révolution, révolutionnaire, soviétique, protestation, politique, prison, prisons,

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About the Seller

Harrison-Hiett Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2019
Richelieu

About Harrison-Hiett Rare Books

Harrison-Hiett is a small, family run business. Originally based in England we have re-located our business to Europe. We now live in the Netherlands, where we spend our time visiting and exhibiting at fairs.

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