Full Title:

The Life of the Archpriest Avvakum | by Himself | Translated from the Seventeenth Century | Russian by Jane Harrison and Hope Mirr- | lees, with a Preface by Prince D.S. Mirsky

Publication:

Hamden, Connecticut: Archon Books, 1963

Binding:

16mo 6 15/16 in. x 4 3/16 in. Black cloth; spine lettered in gilt; front cover blank; all edges trimmed. Spine: [lettered down] The Life of the Archpriest Avvakum Archon (see image above).

Notes:

Avvakum was the last of HM's works to be published by Hogarth, and the first of the two Russian translations she did in partnership with Jane Harrison. The book is the autobiography of a seventeenth century Russian priest. To me at least, Avvakum's incessant bleating about his own piety and the tribulations he suffers at the hands of the unworthy is simply tiresome, and the best part of the book is Prince Mirsky's introduction. This is not to slight Mirrlees and Harrison's translation, which I'm sure is deft and accurate; both were accomplished linguists. It's the work itself I don't like.

In Collected Poems, CP-A1, Sandeep Parmar suggests that HM's involvement in this project was actually minimal, with most of the work by Harrison and Mirsky. Mirrlees was in England during the period the bulk of the translation was done, while Harrison and Mirsky were working together in Paris.

This edition was produced in 1963 by Archon Books, Hamden, Connecticut. As far as I know, this is the only time this title has been reprinted.