A Dog's Heart. Stories

The entire book in electronic form can be accessed via the link on the SZKEO website. The gift illustrated edition is printed on domestic matte coated paper Omela with a bookmark of the same color as the headband.

In addition to... the famous novella «A Dog's Heart» by Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov, which is printed from the last edited typescript by the author, the book includes twelve stories by the writer, including those from the cycle «Golden Correspondences of Ferapont Ferapontovich Kaporetsov» and «Gemstone Life». The novella is illustrated with dynamic drawings by the talented contemporary artist Maxim Popovsky, while the stories are accompanied by illustrations created by Nikolai Ernstovich Radlov (1889–1942).

Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov (1891–1940) began writing the novella «A Dog's Heart» in 1925, shortly after registering his marriage to Lyubov Evgenyevna Belozerskaya, who had recently returned to Russia. The novella contained numerous critical remarks about the situation in Soviet Russia after the revolution, which is why it was never published during Bulgakov's lifetime. K. M. Simonov, who was the chairman of the Commission on the Literary Heritage of the writer for many years and did much for the publication of his works, noted in 1967 regarding «A Dog's Heart»: «This is a complex work, difficult to publish even now». The novella was first published abroad. In 1968, «A Dog's Heart» was released in London. The text was published by Flegon press in issues 9 and 10 of the magazine «Student. Journal of the Avant-Garde of Soviet Literature». In the same year, the novella was released in Frankfurt am Main. It was published by «Posev» in issue 69 of «Journal of Literature, Art, Science and Socio-Political Thought «Grani»». Both of these publications appeared without the knowledge of the writer's widow. The published texts significantly deviated from the original that belonged to her. The first Soviet edition of «A Dog's Heart» was released only in 1987. The text, prepared for publication by the literary scholar M. O. Chudakova, appeared in issue 6 of the magazine «Znamya», but it also contained thousands of distortions. Finally, in 1989, a two-volume collection of Bulgakov's works, prepared by the literary scholar L. M. Yanovskaya, was published by the Kiev publishing house «Dnipro», in which the text of «A Dog's Heart» was printed from the original — the last corrected typescript by the author. This unaltered Bulgakov text is what is printed in this book.

The dynamic scenes of «A Dog's Heart» in this edition are adorned with illustrations by the talented contemporary artist Maxim Popovsky. Bulgakov's stories in this book are accompanied by drawings by Nikolai Ernstovich Radlov (1889–1942). The future artist was born in 1889 into the family of a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and director of the Public Library, Ernest Lvovich Radlov. Nikolai began drawing while still in school. While studying at the history and philology faculty of St. Petersburg University, Radlov managed to attend classes at the Academy of Arts. He could have become an academic artist, but he chose the path of a caricaturist. Radlov possessed a remarkable talent for depicting short stories in a series of sequential scenes. In 1937, his collection «Stories in Pictures» with humorous illustrated stories for children was released. This book had phenomenal success, was translated into English, and received an award at the International Children's Book Competition in the USA.