BUNIN I.A. (1870-1953), AUTOGRAPH YABLONOVSKY S.V. (1870-1953), AUTOGRAPH List of the poem ‘Iz moey zhizni’ [‘From My Life’] by Valery Bryusov. Undated and without place, [presumably Paris, after 1924].

Paper, pencil. 2 pp.; 27 x 17 cm. The poem was written by V. Bryusov in 1919 as an introduction to an autobiographical poema he had planned (the project was never realised). In Bryusov’s editions it is published under the title ‘Introduction’. In the Bunin-Yablonovsky copy it is given with its original title and an explanation. The entire text is in Ivan Bunin’s hand, except for the end of the last line, the date and the author’s name (in the hand of S. Yablonovsky). Provenance: Sergei Viktorovich Yablonovsky (real name Potresov; 1870-1953) was a journalist, literary and theatre critic, teacher and public figure. He worked on the editorial staff of the Moscow newspaper ‘Russkoe slovo’ (1901-1917) and was an active member of the People’s Freedom Party. In early 1920 he emigrated to Egypt, where he founded a gymnasium for children, taught Russian there and for a time served as its director. The same year he moved to France and taught at the Russian People’s University in Paris. In 1928 the 35th anniversary of his literary activity was celebrated (with I.A. Bunin presiding).