Arsenyev, N. S.

Iz russkoi kulturnoi i tvorcheskoi traditsii [From the Russian Cultural and Creative Tradition]

Frankfurt am Main: Posev, 1959. Item #1409

300 pages: portrait. Publisher’s wrappers. Light wear to extremities, spine slightly rubbed, foxing. Else a clean, solid copy.

A key émigré publication by the prominent religious philosopher and cultural historian Nikolai Sergeevich Arsenyev (also spelled Arseniev), 1888–1977, whose work helped define the spiritual orientation of the Russian diaspora after the Revolution. This volume is a reflective synthesis of essays exploring the foundations and transmission of Russian cultural identity, filtered through a religious and philosophical lens deeply informed by Arsenyev's Orthodox faith and his ecumenical interests. Written during his exile in Germany, where he lectured extensively, the book articulates the significance of cultural and religious continuity in the Russian historical experience, especially under conditions of Soviet repression.

Topics include: the spiritual character of Russian family life, the communal or sobornyi aspect of Russian intellectual circles, the cross-pollination of East and West in 19th-century Russian culture, the poetic and contemplative soul of the Russian people, and the dynamic synthesis of tradition and creativity. These essays are steeped in an elegiac, yet forward-looking tone—urging a return to and renewal of the national soul not through nostalgia, but through spiritually grounded moral responsibility.

With a deeply engaged preface written in 1958, Arsenyev frames the book as an act of cultural resistance and spiritual continuity, aimed at fortifying the next generation of émigré Russians in the preservation and ethical transmission of their heritage.

Price: $100.00