TOLSTOY, Leo. Khadzhi-Murat. (Hadji Murád). xxxi, 178, vi pp. Illustrated with reproductions of paintings by E.E. Lansere. Folio, bound in original light green patterned paper covered boards. Petrograd: R. Golike i A. Bil'borg, 1916.

A handsome illustrated edition of Tolstoy's last novel. In 1851 Leo Tolstoy enlisted in the Russian army and was sent to the Caucasus to help defeat the Chechens. During this war a great Avar chieftain, Hadji Murád, broke with the Chechen leader Shamil and fled to the Russians for safety. Months later, while attempting to rescue his family from Shamil's prison, Hadji Murád was pursued by those he had betrayed and, after fighting the most heroic battle of his life, was killed. The illustrator Yevgeny Yevgenievich Lanceray, also spelled Eugene Lansere, was an artist and illustrator, associated stylistically with Mir iskusstva. Spine with some wear, marginal spotting, a near fine copy.