Date: 1922-04-15
Source: ru:PSS/v54

Source: PSS, Volume 54

This tome, spanning 733 pages, was published with that shameless, truly Soviet sloppiness—behavior for which one ought to be thrown in prison. There is no price listed; nor is there the signature of any responsible individual or group.

There is no index!! The simple list of names is compiled in a haphazard, careless manner. And so on.

I propose the following:

1) Require Hanetsky and Karakhan to identify, within a two‑day period, all individuals accountable for the publication;

2) Likewise, order them to halt the sale of the book;

3) Prepare a supplementary insert listing the missing items;

4) Compile a comprehensive index; in short, by Thursday*, submit to the Central Committee a concise report detailing all the egregious flaws and defects in the edition—and outlining the appropriate measures for rectification.

Lenin

P. S. In the “Preface”—which is left unsigned!!—M. N. Pokrovsky is named as the author; yet it is abundantly clear that he bears no responsibility for the actual publication, nor for its technical execution—having devoted his efforts instead to the painstaking collection of materials, a task that consumed 389 hours.

Ed.

In the 4th edition of the Collected Works

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Written on April 15, 1922.

First published in 1950.

V. I. Lenin, Volume 33

Printed from the manuscript