Home
Politics
The papers included a poem written to his lover, the poet Olga Ivinskaya, who served as his inspiration for the novel's main character Lara.
Parts of the poem appear in the book, which is set against the backdrop of the Russian revolutions in the early 20th century.
Pasternak's novel was rejected by Soviet publishers, and so he successfully smuggled it out of the country, and had it published in Italy. He won the Nobel prize for literature the following year, but the Soviet government forced him to refuse it.
At Monday's sale, the highest price, $269,000, was paid for a 48-page manuscript from British author Arthur Conan Doyle of "Sherlock Holmes" fame.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Parts of the poem appear in the book, which is set against the backdrop of the Russian revolutions in the early 20th century.
Pasternak's novel was rejected by Soviet publishers, and so he successfully smuggled it out of the country, and had it published in Italy. He won the Nobel prize for literature the following year, but the Soviet government forced him to refuse it.
At Monday's sale, the highest price, $269,000, was paid for a 48-page manuscript from British author Arthur Conan Doyle of "Sherlock Holmes" fame.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
