The Gulag Archipelago
By Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
 
First editions in English, first impressions: London: Collins and Harvill Press, 1974–1978. Issued simultaneously in the US.
 
Octavo, three volumes. Original green, black, and blue cloth, spines lettered in gilt. With the original dust jackets.
 
A very good set, the bindings firm and square. Volume I exhibits a little faint spotting to the endpapers; Volume II has a small nick to the spine head along with a couple of light marks to the edges; Volume III shows a hint of spotting to the top edge and a pencil mark to the bottom edge; the contents remain otherwise clean and fresh.
 
The jackets for Volumes II and III are unclipped but exhibit some fading to their spine panels, a tear and a small nick to the top edges of Volume III, and some moderate edge wear. The dust jacket for Volume I is unpriced, likely intended for export, showing rubbing in places to the extremities, a small nick to the top edge of the upper panel, and some associated creasing.
 
The English translation of Solzhenitsyn’s monumental exposé of the Soviet forced labor camp system, a work that fundamentally altered Western perceptions of the totalitarian regime. Compiled from historical research, survivor testimonies, and the author’s own harrowing experiences as an inmate, its publication led directly to Solzhenitsyn’s expulsion from the Soviet Union. Having been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1970, his masterpiece stands as one of the most influential and politically impactful achievements of the twentieth century.