Soloukhin, Vladimir Alekseevich (1924 - 1997)	Chernye doski. (Zapiski nachinaiushchego kollektsionera). N.p. [London? Paris?], N.d. [1970?] 165 p.	€25,00

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8 vo, pictorial yellow publisher´s covers, vignette on title page in b/w. GOOD to VERY GOOD. FIRST EDITION/FIRST ISSUE (?). A rare and famous pirated edition of 'Chernye doski'. The book was distributed by Alex Flegon(t) in 1970s and 1980s via net of selected 'émigré' book stores in Europe and the USA.It was also distributed by the only 'Soviet' book store in Paris, 'Les livres étranges' the largest outlet for Soviet books and periodicals in Europe. Soloukhin's book 'Searching for Icons in Russia' describes his hobby of collecting icons. He traveled throughout the countryside in the 1950's and 1960's searching for icons. In some instances he discovered beautiful 16th century icons underneath layers of grime and over-painting yet he also finds ancient icons chopped into bits and rotting away. Originally published in 1969 as part of the author's 'Zimniĭ den''. The book was formally 'semi-forbidden' for reissue in the USSR of 1970s but London/Paris/Chicago russian editions were smuggled to the USSR in abundance. Alex Flegon back in 1980s has admitted to cataloger that he was behind first pirated editiion of 1970 edition of 'Chernye doski'. Our copy, in all probability, is the first edition/first issue or later reissue of 1971. The story of Flegon´s 'partner' in pirated Soviet editions,'Les Livres Étrangeres' of Paris, is still awaiting its researcher of Soviet backed book culture outside Russia proper in late 1950s through early 1990s. From the net of early 1990s:' We have unconfirmed information that our primary source for Soviet materials,Les Livres Etrangeres in Paris, is bankrupt and has gone out of business. We know no details of the situation. Rumor has it that other suppliers of Soviet materials are also in a shaky situation. The reason, presumably, is the collapse of the Soviet economy. We understand that Les Livres Etrangers did not place any 1991 renewal orders, at least for us. We are waiting to hear from others who we hope will know something concrete, but meanwhile, it seems that ACQNET subscribers should at least know what we are hearing and at best can shed some light on it. Date: Thu, 21 Feb 91 11:26:56 EST [...] 'This morning I have talked to Georges Delorme, owner of Les Livres Etrangers.The company is not bankrupt, but is going out of business, effective nextMonday, assuming that it receives the legal authorization to do so (requiredin France -- I can tell you why some other time if you want to know). The reason Delorme gave me is that the centralized book procurement system in the Soviet Union has collapsed. Since he depends on that system for 99% of his business, he sees no way he can satisfactorily meet customer expectations, so he's closing shop. He currently is negotiating with Collets in London for them to take over his outstanding orders, including subscriptions. He does not yet know whether they will accept. When he does, he will write a general letter to all customers to tell them what's going on. He is, of course, very unhappy [or sounded 'to be unhappy2-vk] . He is very pessimistic about the long-term situation in Russia. He hopes that, within two or three years, things will have straightened out enough to that he can get back in business. He is not optimistic about that happening. He did express his concern for his customers and says he hasn't told them yet simply because there hasn't been enough time since he made the decision and he is prohibited by the Court from doing so until next Monday. [...]' George Delorme, his brother Boris and his father Moishe Kaplan were known as the most famous 'skazochniki' among Russian-speaking book dealers of the period. To the best of cataloger´s understanding the whole case was a small 'Russian Panama Canal Case' of early 1990s, when some Western dealers in Russian books, both in the USA and France, came to an agreement with hacks from 'MK' and ripped Mother Russia for few million dollars.Millions of Russian books were simply dumped to city dumps or sent to paper mill, including hundreds of copies of 'Chernye doski'.