Samizdat erotic epistolary novel in two volumes, professionally bound with cover illustrations of two women’s faces. Presented as a translation of an American work published in Philadelphia, 1960, by a “Dhz[eison] Gudvin” (J[ason] Goodwin or Godwin). The text consists of ten letters, each dated 1959, with a foreword and post-script by “D. Gudvin,” 9/16/1960.

Though banned foreign literature in translation was a common variety of Soviet samizdat, no original English-language text could be identified as direct source or inspiration. The work’s presentation may thus be a deliberate play on that convention, situating its sexual content in a decidedly foreign and specifically American setting. As Ann Komaromi writes, “Samizdat was an intoxicating product. It was forbidden fruit. This forbidden fruit included serious political and literary works, but also literature of much more dubious quality, including pornography. From the beginning, samizdat derived its identity via its parodic difference from official publishing. Samizdat self-consciously aped “serious” censored publications…” — “The Material Existence of Soviet Samizdat,” Slavic Review, 2004. Given production method (carbon), one of what can only be a small handful of copies.

$1,500