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Lot 3013
5 December 2012, 10:00 EST
New York

US$2,000 - US$3,000

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BAKUNIN, MIKHAIL. 1814-1876.

Autograph Letter Signed ("M. Bakǔnin"), 1 p, 8vo, Bedford Square, London, January 15, 1861 [but 1862], in German.

Fine letter from the great Russian revolutionary, called the father of anarchism. In translation: "My dear friend, please excuse me for not coming today, but it was impossible for me, as I was already committed elsewhere. Even tomorrow I will not be able to see you, as I want to take advantage of an extraordinary opportunity to write to Russia. But the day after tomorrow I certainly want to see you. Be so good as to write to me at what time in the morning I can come to your home. Your unchanged, if older M. Bakunin."
This letter dates from long after Bakunin escaped from a Siberian prison camp in the summer of 1861. He traveled first to Japan and then the U.S. and at this point he had only recently arrived in London and was beginning to renew his revolutionary ties after his four years in Siberia.

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