Lessing, G. E. Emilia Galotti. Tragedy in 5 Acts, 1939. In Russian.

Г. Э. Лессинг.
Эмилия Галотти.
Трагедия в пяти действиях. Серия: Библиотека мировой драматургии.
Гравюра на дереве А. Андреева
Москва-Ленинград: Искусство, 1939.
124 с. : портр. Уменьшенный формат. Твердый издательский переплет.
Тираж 8000 экз.
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G. E. Lessing.
Emilia Galotti.
Tragedy in five acts. Series: Library of World Dramaturgy.
Woodcut by A. Andreev
Moscow-Leningrad: Iskusstvo, 1939.
124 pp. : port. Small format. Hardcover.
Edition of 8,000 copies.

This 1939 edition of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Emilia Galotti represents a significant publication of Enlightenment drama issued just before the onset of the Second World War. The text provides a deep dive into the internal logic of political tyranny and moral virtue, including the arrangement of the five-act structure that made this work a foundational piece of German bourgeois tragedy (bürgerliches Trauerspiel). Published as part of the esteemed "Library of World Dramaturgy" series by "Iskusstvo," this volume serves as a vital primary source for understanding how 18th-century European classics were curated for the Soviet reader, emphasizing themes of social resistance against autocratic corruption. The work’s sharp critique of the nobility and its psychological depth continue to resonate, documenting the exact period when Soviet cultural institutions sought to integrate the democratic traditions of Western literature into the domestic canon.