1916 - 1917 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT DIARY OF AN AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN IN PETROGRAD EXPERIENCING THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION AND THE BIRTH OF COMMUNISM FIRST HAND

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On offer is the unique, original, historical manuscript diary of Wilson Fiske Reynolds, an American businessman in Petrograd who was an eyewitness to the Russian Revolution in 1917 . While not an effusive using a 5 year diary from September 10th 1916 through September 17th 1917 the writer relates the mundane and much, much more: very concerned about work at the office, going to the Hotel Europe with the Embassy crowd, taking Russian lessons, picking up his mail at the Embassy and going to bed early and then there are the glimpses of the vast societal changes taking place. Here are some snippets: March 9 - Went to the office on foot. Transportation very scarce and running irregular. A bit of rioting. March 11 - No trans. Rumors of shooting. Caught in the Bol. ___ by troops but got through. March 12 - Wood, the wild wooly Western bad man, gets the scare of his young life. ___ mostly cut off. Hard time to get through. Staid here all night at office. Troops over to Rev. March 13 - All troops have joined the Revolutionary forces. Much promiscuous firing about. Got shot at by armored car. Slept at office. March 14 - Much quieter. I saw prisoners coming in - troops beginning to go under officers again. Gen. killed at corner. Staid at office all night. By the summer, he is watching people play tennis. He was sick a lot, possibly from typhoid, and doctor advises he go back to U.S. Then describes train trip in August to Manchuria and China, ultimately winding up in Chicago. Very shortly thereafter, he is sailing for Liverpool and by October is back in Petrograd. At one point, visited Allied Machinery. Diary comes with two very brittle, browned loose folded pages with penciled notations. One has "Revolutionary Russia" as heading at top. These notes describe business conditions particularly with regard to workers. Overall G+.; Manuscript; 24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall; FEBRUARY REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST, COMMUNISM, NICHOLAS II, RUSSIA, RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, LENIN, TROTSKY, PETROGRAD, BOLSHEVISM, BOLSHEVIKS, TSAR, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, ARCHIVE, DIARY, DIARIES, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, manuscrito, Show more