Vinogradov, A. Stendhal and His Time (Stendal i ego vremya), 1938. Illustrated by N. V. Ilyin. In Russian.

Виноградов А. К. Стендаль и его время. / Художник Н. В. Ильин.
Москва : Советский писатель, 1938.
248 с. : ил. Твердый издательский переплет, увеличенный формат.
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Vinogradov, A. Stendhal and His Time (Stendal i ego vremya). / Illustrated by N. V. Ilyin.
Moscow: Soviet Writer Publishing House (Sovetskiy pisatel), 1938.
248 pp. : ill. Hardcover, enlarged format. In Russian.

This 1938 edition is a masterful example of the biographical novel genre that flourished in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. Authored by Anatoly Vinogradov (1888–1946), a distinguished historian, philologist, and former director of the Lenin State Library, the book offers a vivid, deeply researched portrait of the great French novelist Marie-Henri Beyle, better known by his pen name Stendhal.
Vinogradov was a key collaborator of Maxim Gorky in the effort to bring world classics to the Soviet reader. Having already achieved fame with The Three Colors of Time, Vinogradov returns to his favorite subject in Stendhal and His Time. He deftly navigates the complex landscape of post-Napoleonic Europe, placing Stendhal within the turbulent era of the Restoration and the rise of the 19th-century "Young Man." The narrative is rich with historical material, blending rigorous scholarship with a captivating, novelistic style.
The visual identity of the book was crafted by the renowned artist N. V. Ilyin, whose illustrations and book design complement Vinogradov’s prose. The 1938 imprint from Sovetskiy pisatel reflects the high aesthetic standards of pre-war Soviet publishing, featuring an elegant hardcover and an enlarged format that allows for a generous display of the artist's work.
For collectors of Soviet bibliophilia, admirers of Stendhal, and historians of the biographical novel, this volume is a quintessential artifact. It represents a period when Soviet literature sought to reclaim the European cultural heritage through the lens of historical materialism and artistic storytelling.