"You are not deaf-mute, are you?"
Autograph letter signed ("A. Peshkov").
4to (277 x 213 mm). 1 p. on squared paper. In Russian.
€ 5,500.00
A furious letter to the Russian journalist Solomon Gitmanovich [Kaplun], complaining of Kaplun's failure to write to him: "Sending you two more sonnets of Vyacheslav Ivanov; you have to place these according to the instructions of the author - these are included. Please send the proofs to V.I. [i.e. Ivanov], do not forget! In conformity with your unpleasant habits, you are not replying to my letters, and having sent manuscripts to you I find myself constantly in a state of dismal unawareness, whether you have received them or not. The very least you could do is to ask someone to put one word on a postcard and send it to me: one word: 'received' or two words: 'everything arrived'. If Maria Ignatievna [Budberg] has not yet left for the border states, ask her not to forget about me. How are things with the 6th and 7th issues [i.e. of Beseda]? You are not deaf-mute, are you? (Quotation from Mayakovsky) [...]".
The recipient, S. G. Kaplun (1891-1940), was a journalist and publisher, owner of the Berlin publishing house "Epoch", and publisher of Gorky's literary and scientific journal Beseda from 1922 to 1925. Maria Ignatievna ("Moura") Budberg (1892-1974) was Gorky's secretary and lover, and later became a notorious double-agent.
Left margin with punched holes (not touching text). Provenance: Hermitage Auction, Monaco, 6 July 2019, lot 370.
