Zaštitna povelja / Detinjstvo Liversove / Il Tratto di Apelle / Vazdušni koloseci / Pisma iz Tule

This edition brings together the fundamental autobiographical and essayistic work Protective Charter and four key short stories from the early phase of the work of the Russian Nobel laureate Boris Pasternak: Childhood of Luvers, The Sign of Apelles (Il Tratto di Apelle), Airways (Vazdusni koloseci) and Letters from Tula. All works are connected by the author's recognizable, exceptionally lyrical and metaphorical style in which the boundary between poetry and prose is almost completely erased.

The central place in the collection is occupied by Protective Charter (1931), one of the most important autobiographical works of the 20th century. In it, Pasternak does not present a classic biography, but describes his own spiritual and poetic maturation — from giving up music under the influence of Scriabin and studying philosophy in Marburg, to completely dedicating himself to poetry. The notes on his friendship with Vladimir Mayakovsky and reflections on his tragic suicide are especially poignant.

The short story Childhood of Luvers (1918) is a masterpiece of psychological realism that depicts the delicate transition from childhood to youth through the subtle impressions of the girl Ženja Luvers. An early work The Sign of Apelles (1915/1918) deals with the motif of poetic competition and illusion through a fictional encounter with Heinrich Heine in Italy, where the boundary between art and true love turns into an aesthetic challenge.

The dark and dramatic Airways (1924) depicts the collision of intimate family tragedies and the disappearance of a child with the merciless whirlwind of the October Revolution and the civil war. The collection is rounded off by Letters from Tula (1918), which, through philosophical conversations and interior monologues, problematizes the notion of acting, artistic truth, and the moral responsibility of the creator in a new, revolutionary era.

These works as a whole form the indispensable foundation of Pasternak's poetics, which will reach its peak in the novel Doctor Zhivago.