Guy Burgess | His annotated copy of Lenin on Britain, c.1959

Guy Burgess--Lenin

Lenin on Britain. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, [c.1959]

8vo, ANNOTATED BY BURGESS, with notes or markings on at least 34 pages of text, stamp of English publisher's Laurence & Wishart, maroon cloth, paper slips marking pages with annotations, one page torn

A CAMBRIDGE SPY'S COPY OF LENIN. Guy Burgess was the larger-than-life son of the British establishment who betrayed his country for his Communist beliefs. He lived his final years in exile in Moscow and left his books to his fellow spy Kim Philby. The bulk of the annotations in this book comprise the marking or ticking of particular passages, although there are occasional underlinings and remarks entered in the margin. For instance, on page 144, Burgess puts a double tick next to the sentence lamenting the lack of Marxist influence on British party politics ("In the ranks of the Independent Labour Party, Marxism is rejected on principle, and that is why Marxist language is not used at all.")

PROVENANCE:

Guy Burgess (1911-63); bequeathed to Kim Philby (1912-88), bookplate (H.A.R. Philby); Sotheby's, London, 19 July 1994, lot 433