Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel [Smith of Wootton Major: A fairy tale]. Kuznets iz Bolshogo Vuttona.

Translation by Yu. Nagibin and E. Gippius.
Preface by Yu. Nagibin.
Designed by S. Ostrov.

Moskva, Detskaya literatura, 1988.
8vo, 58, [2] pp., ill.

In publisher’s illustrated hardcover. Signed and inscribed to title page.
Near very good condition, small stains to back cover.

Signed and inscribed by the translator: 'Dorogomu / Tole / ot Dzhoni i Yury / Nagibin / Tolkien / 1988' [To my dear Tolya from Johnny and Yura. Nagibin. Tolkien. 1988]. First book edition of Smith of Wootton Major into Russian.

The first Russian translation of Tolkien’s work was an excerpt from 'The Hobbit', which appeared in the 'Angliia' magazine in 1969. The first complete edition of 'The Hobbit' was not published until 1976.
The translation of 'Smith of Wootton Major' was first published in the 'Pioner' magazine in 1987 (issue No 2) and as a book the following year. The book was co-translated and signed by one of the most prolific Soviet writers and screenwriters, Yuri Nagibin (1920–1994). Nagibin also co-wrote the screenplay for the Soviet-Japanese movie 'Dersu Uzala', which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1976.
In the preface to 'Smith of Wootton Major', Nagibin unexpectedly mentioned the Chernobyl disaster and compared the story’s protagonist, Smith, with Volodymyr Pravyk, a Soviet firefighter notable for his role in directing initial efforts to extinguish fires following the disaster.
The book was illustrated by the graphic and book artist Svetozar Ostrov (born 1941). He is considered a successor of Vladimir Lebedev’s school of book illustration.

OCLC locates three copies of this edition: in the Stanford University Library, the Fairfield University Library and the Azusa Pacific University Library.