Lot 256: TOLSTOY, LEO.

LATE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ("LEV TOLSTOY"), IN RUSSIAN, TO COUNT FIRDUN BADALBEKOW, ABOUT GOD, DEATH AND "THE CIRCLE OF READING"
a reply to his questions concerning God and death, referring him to his Circle of Reading for an understanding of God, discussing the Gospel of St. John, observing that the latter states that God is love; concerning death, Tolstoy confesses that all he can answer is that 'when we die, we go there, i.e. to that God from whom we came in to life' ("...Na vtoroi vopros...mogu otvetit' tolko to chto umiraya my idem tuda, t.e k tomu Bogy ot kago prishli v zhizn'..."); in the final part of the letter, Tolstoy discusses the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, which he values very much, referring also to a volume of the sayings of Muhammad edited by Abdullah al Mamun al Lurawardy, 2 pages, 4to (252 x 202mm.), 28 December 1908, repaired, browning

In this late letter, dating from less two years before his death, Tolstoy touches on a number of important themes which had pre-occupied him for many years and which found expression in his great two-part work The Circle of Reading. The teachings of Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), the founder of the Bahá'í faith, were of especial interest to the great writer, who regarded them as the highest and purest form of religious instruction.