The Gulag Archipelago Signed First Edition Reference

Arkhipelag GULAG (YMCA-Press, Paris, 1973–1978; English: Harper & Row, 1974–1978) is Solzhenitsyn’s three-volume, 1,800-page account of the Soviet forced labor camp system from 1918 to 1956. The work combines Solzhenitsyn’s own experience, the testimony of 227 other prisoners, and historical analysis into what is simultaneously a literary masterwork, a historical document, and a moral indictment. Its publication in the West directly precipitated Solzhenitsyn’s forced exile from the Soviet Union in February 1974.

First Edition Identification

Russian first: YMCA-Press, Paris, 1973 (Vol. 1), 1975 (Vol. 2), 1978 (Vol. 3). English first: Harper & Row, 1974 (Vol. 1), 1975 (Vol. 2), 1978 (Vol. 3). Translated by Thomas P. Whitney (Vols. 1–2) and Harry Willetts (Vol. 3).

Signed Copy Market Values

• Signed complete English set: $500–$1,500
• Signed English Vol. 1: $200–$500
• Unsigned complete English set: $75–$200

A complete signed set of The Gulag Archipelago in English first editions is one of the most historically significant literary collectibles of the Cold War era.