Fritsche, V. M. (Ed.). About Tolstoy: A Literary and Critical Collection (O Tolstom: literaturno-kriticheskiy sbornik), 1928. In Russian.

О Толстом: литературно-критический сборник.
Под редакцией В. М. Фриче.
Москва-Ленинград: Государственное издательство, 1928.
389 с. ; 22 см. Мягкая обложка. Тираж 4000 экз.
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About Tolstoy: A Literary and Critical Collection.
Edited by V. M. Fritsche.
Moscow-Leningrad: State Publishing House (Gosizdat), 1928.
389 pp. ; 22 cm. Softcover. Edition of 4,000 copies.

This monumental critical collection, released to commemorate the centenary of Leo Tolstoy's birth, represents a pivotal moment in the Soviet re-evaluation of the Great Writer’s legacy. The text provides a deep dive into the internal logic of the early Marxist school of literary criticism, including the arrangement of essays by prominent scholars of the 1920s who sought to reconcile Tolstoy’s aristocratic origins and religious seekers with his status as a "mirror of the Russian revolution." Edited by Vladimir Fritsche, a leading figure in Soviet sociological aesthetics, the volume serves as a vital primary source for understanding the ideological shifts in 1920s scholarship and the transition toward a formalized Soviet canon.
The physical identity of this 1928 edition reflects the high editorial standards of the State Publishing House (Gosizdat) during the late NEP period. The collection features diverse perspectives on Tolstoy’s realism, his influence on world literature, and the socio-economic foundations of his philosophy. With a relatively small print run of 4,000 copies, this book survived as a testament to a brief era of intense intellectual debate before the imposition of Socialist Realism. For bibliophiles, historians of Russian thought, and collectors of literary criticism, this volume is an essential document of the "Tolstoy Centennial" and the complex intellectual landscape of the early USSR.