TOLSTOY LEO: (1828-1910) Russian Novelist.

A rare vintage signed sepia 4.5 x 6.5 photograph, the image depicting Tolstoy seated outdoors in a three quarter length pose, most likely in the grounds of Yasnaya Polyana. The writer is seen wearing his familiar plain, dark peasant robes. Signed ('Leo Tolstoy') in bold black fountain pen ink to the lower photographer's mount and dated 17th October 1895 in his hand. Double matted in dark brown and framed and glazed in a decorative frame to an overall size of 11.5 x 13. Accompanied by the original envelope in which the photograph was transmitted, addressed in Tolstoy's hand to Joseph Edwards in Liverpool and bearing various postmarks dated 18th October 1895 (in Russia) and 28th October 1895 (in Liverpool, England). The envelope has extensive age wear, light overall dust staining and extensive tears and areas of paper loss to the edges. Some minor abrasions to the image (most noticeable to Tolstoy's eyes, and perhaps a deliberate act at some stage in the photograph's history) and with signs of retouching (evidently made in preparation for the publication of the photograph and largely to the folds of Tolstoy's robes) and some creasing and age wear to the photographer's mount, only very slightly affecting Tolstoy's signature, G

The present photograph (unfortunately not including the signature) was used as an illustration in The Labour Annual Calendar for 1896, edited by Joseph Edwards. Promoted as a 'Year Book of Social, Economic and Political Reform' the publication featured portraits of nine 'prominent living socialists', the present image of Tolstoy being reproduced on one of the final pages with the printed caption 'Count Leo N. Tolstoy, Russian Democrat and Christian Reformer'. Other portraits featured in the publication include Edward Bellamy, Tom Mann and Alfred Russell Wallace, some reproduced with their facsimile signatures. An original 8vo printed copy of the publication is included in the lot.

Tolstoy's novels War and Peace (1869) and Anna Karenina (1877) are often cited as pinnacles of realist fiction and the Russian writer is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. His ideas on nonviolent resistance had a profound effect on a number of pivotal 20th century figures including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.