BLOK A. (1880-1921), AUTOGRAPH ADDRESSED to I. von GUNTER Handwritten poem «Secret signs are flaring up», the first two strophes. 1912. 1 p. 25x22 cm.

Handwritten signature of A. Blok indicating the year of writing the poem «1902». Below there is an entry addressed to I. Gunter: «In the verses addressed to You, I was right - wasn’t I?» In the lower field of the sheet, the owner’s entry about the date of the script: «1912 April, St. Petersburg». During the visit of I. Gunter to St. Petersburg in April 1912, A. Blok gave him the second and third books of «Collections of poems» as a gift, and also inscribed into handwritten album brought by Gunther two strophes from his early poem «Secret signs are flaring up...» (1902), being unpublished that time and published only in 1913. (Northern notes. №4), herewith making a remarkable entry: «In the verses addressed to You, I was right - wasn’t I?» This was probably the final stanza of the poem in question, dedicated to Gunther: «So, - do not forget in a crown of thorns, / To whom you prayed for the first time, / When the evening light deceives / the Expanded and bright eyes»». Provenance: From the legacy of I. Gunter. Johannes von Gunter (1886-1973) was a German poet and a prominent translator of Russian literature. An active participant in the Russian and German literary life of the early twentieth century. The first translator of Alexander Blok in German language. In 1947, Gunther has released his translation of the big book «»Alexander Block. Gesammelte Dichtungene»», and in 1948 - the monograph «» Alexander Block. Der Versuch einer Darstellung»» (München), in which he reminisces about personal encounters with the poet. Bibliography: 1) Block’s gift inscriptions on books and photographs / collected by N. P. Ilyin and A. E. Parnis // Alexander Block: new materials and research, Moscow: Nauka, 1982. (Literary inheritance, Vol. 92, Book 3). 2) Kuhto E.V. «Russian theme» in auction houses of Europe. CH. XXII // About books. 2012. no. 2 (22). Pp. 63-89.