Sochinenia Grafa L.N. Tolstogo [Childhood, Boyhood, Youth].

Early Russian printing of Tolstoy’s trilogy Childhood, Boyhood, Youth. Quarto, original half leather. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the title page to his doctor, “To Dmitry Vasil’evich Nikitin. Leo Tolstoy. 28 March 1903.” With an original photograph of Tolstoy with Dmitry Nikitin opposite the title page. The recipient, Dmitry Nikitin was Tolstoy’s family doctor who described him as ‘‘a very attentive person [who] knows everything that medicine knows now.” The son of a priest from a small village, served as Tolstoy’s first family and later treated M. Gorky. Beginning in the 1850s, Tolstoy had to turn to doctors for both his own illnesses and the illnesses of his children, yet he believed that traditional medicine did not solve the essence of the problem, a problem with the person themselves, and their soul. He preferred to rely on the spiritual and natural defenses of the body and tried to dispense with traditional medicine. In 1902, Tolstoy fell seriously ill with pneumonia. With his life in danger, he needed vigilant medical supervision and a permanent doctor. Nikitin came highly recommended and quickly became involved with the Tolstoy family. They characterized him in letters to friends as a nice, pleasant person, and competent doctor. Nikitin, thanks to Tolstoy, soon connected with several other famous writers including Gorky, A. Chekhov, S. Elpatievsky, S. Petrov, F. Shalyapin, and L. Andreev. In addition to serving as the Tolstoy family’s doctor, Nikitin served as a secretary, copied Tolstoy’s manuscripts, and taught his children. When Nikitin came to inspect the writer on his deathbed in 1910, Tolstoy addressed him with these words, ‘‘I want to give you some good advice. Do not remove yourself from people to serve them. There is no need to study bacteria, to study infinitesimal quantities… All this for the sake of vanity. Do not leave people.” In near fine condition. Inscribed examples of Tolstoy’s works are of utmost scarcity, association copies of this caliber even more so.