MANDELSTAM OSIP (1891-1938), FIRST BOOK WITH AUTHOR'S AUTOGRAPH, TO V.V. GIPPIUS Kamen: Stikhi. [Stone: Poems]. St. Petersburg: Akme, 1913.

33 pages. Edition of 600 copies. Publisher's typeset cover with vignette. The book is enclosed in a modern cardboard folder with a leather spine. On the title page, a dedicatory inscription in ink: "Dorogomu Vladimiru Vasil'yevichu, na pamyat' o proshedshem i v zalog budushchego Avtor. 12 apr. 1913." [To dear Vladimir Vasilievich, in memory of the past and as a pledge of the future. Author. April 12, 1913.] V.V. Gippius (1876-1941) - poet, literary critic; cousin of Zinaida Gippius. One of the early autographs of the poet on a book. A significant rarity. The first collection of poems by the poet Osip Mandelstam. The publication of "Stone" was a "family affair" — the money for the book was provided by the father. The entire edition was consigned on commission to the Popov-Yasny bookstore, located at the corner of Nevsky and Fontanka. "From time to time, my brother sent me to find out how many copies had been sold, and when I reported that forty-two books had already been sold, it was perceived at home as a celebration. In terms of the scale of that time and the conditions of the book market, it sounded like the poet's first recognition by readers" (from the memories of the younger brother Evgeny Yakovlevich Mandelstam (1898-1979)). Bibliography: Markov. No. 609; Okhlopkov. P. 115; Rozanov. No. 3295; Turchinsky. P. 322.