Berkeley, G. Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous (Tri razgovora mezhdu Gilasom i Filonusom), 1937. In Russian

Беркли Джордж.
Три разговора между Гиласом и Филонусом. / Перевод и вводная статья И. С. Нарского.
Москва : Государственное социально-экономическое издательство (Соцэкгиз), 1937.
127, VIII с. Издательский переплет, обычный формат.
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Berkeley, George.
Three Dialogues Between Hylas and Philonous (Tri razgovora mezhdu Gilasom i Filonusom). / Translated and with an introductory article by I. S. Narsky.
Moscow: State Socio-Economic Publishing House (Sotsekgiz), 1937.
127, VIII pp. Publisher’s binding, standard format.

This 1937 edition of George Berkeley’s (1685–1753) seminal philosophical work is a fascinating artifact of Soviet intellectual history. Published by Sotsekgiz at the height of the pre-war period, it presents Berkeley's most accessible defense of subjective idealism (immaterialism). The "Three Dialogues," originally published in 1713, feature the characters Hylas (representing the materialist view) and Philonous (the "lover of mind" representing Berkeley himself), debating the existence of matter independent of perception.
Berkeley’s famous maxim, esse est percipi (to be is to be perceived), is the central pillar of these dialogues. In the Soviet context of 1937, Berkeley was often presented through the lens of Marxist-Leninist critique—specifically Lenin's Materialism and Empirio-criticism—as the quintessential philosophical adversary. Consequently, this edition includes a substantial introductory article by I. S. Narsky, framing Berkeley's philosophy within the historical-materialist discourse of the time. This makes the book not just a philosophical classic, but a document of how Western Enlightenment thought was curated and critiqued in the Stalinist era.
The translation seeks to maintain the clarity and rhetorical vigor of Berkeley’s original prose, which was designed to combat skepticism and atheism. Despite the ideological framing of the preface, the text remains a faithful representation of Berkeley's attempt to prove that the "sensible world" is a series of ideas in the mind of God.
For historians of philosophy, collectors of Soviet academic editions, and scholars of 18th-century empiricism, this 1937 volume is a significant find. It represents a rare moment where a "reactionary" philosopher’s work was given a standalone, high-quality publication to serve as a primary source for students of dialectical materialism.