[SUMAROKOV, A. P.. Сумароков А.П. 1717-1777.].

8vo.. Disbound. First page is title-page with decorative device to centre. 61pp.. Petersburg bookseller’s (V. I. Klochkov) label to back. “Антикварная книжная торговля В[асилия] И[вановича] Клочкова. СПб.”. Long since disbound, uppermost page (title) loose and a little darkened and foxed, old book-seller’s mark lightly in pencil. Small hole at rear affecting some back pages with loss of only a few words of text. Generally in very good condition. First Russian adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet by the founder of the Russian classical theatre Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov (1717-1777). Written in 1748 and first performed in 1750. Soon after 1748, the ‘Russian Hamlet’ became an inseparable part of the Russian national identity, prompting William Morris's remark: ""Hamlet should have been a Russian, not a Dane"".This is the fourth edition published in Moscow. All 18th century editions are very scarce.