The complete set of one of the best Russian novels of the 20th century. This Russian edition was published in Paris in 7 parts (in 3 volumes) and precedes the English translation.

'The Gulag Archipelago has long been a part of the great canon of Russian literature. It is undoubtedly Solzhenitsyn's masterpiece and the work for which he will be best remembered. Solzhenitsyn had originally intended to publish in 1969 soon after it was completed but he then changed his mind. His hand was eventually forced after the KGB discovered a copy of one of the typescripts in August 1973. A microfilm of The Gulag Archipelago had been sent to the West a few years earlier and after the discovery of the typescript in Moscow, he ordered YMCA Press to go to print in order to forestall any possible machinations by the KGB.'

First editions (second issue of vol.I), 3 vols; 8vo; ownership inscription in ink to upper flyleaf of each volumes; original pictorial wrappers, some creasing and fading to spines, extremities a little worn, a good set.