Kilgour Coll. 1198. - Seltener zweiter Druck der ersten Ausgabe des einflußreichen Bauerndramas 'Macht der Finsternis oder Ist die Kralle hängengeblieben, muß das ganze Vögelchen zugrunde gehen', "eigentliches Erstlingswerk des Autors in dieser Gattung" (KLL, VII 722). "Tolstoi favoured the conventional theatre, but his one great play, The Power of Darkness, became a paradigm for the naturalist stage, and at the same time featured some striking symbolist elements. It combines a starke naturalism, which caused it to be stopped by the censorship until 1895, with heavy symbolism. The dialogue is straightforward and to the point, without ornamental or psychological refinements. The moral message is delivered in the bluntest possible way. The Power of Darkness was successful on European stages even before it was finally staged at the Moscow Maly Theatre." (Terras, Hist. of Russian Literature) - Titel verso im Falz verstärkt. Kanten schwach berieben.