Russian novelist and moral philosopher who wrote the great novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina. He advocated a classless, self-sufficient society that prized love and charity above economics. Practicing his beliefs, the aristocrat renounced his worldly possessions to live virtually penniless among the peasants he loved, and in 1910, seeking to get closer to God, he abandoned his home and family. Leaving home secretly and accompanied only by his physician and a daughter, he died in a remote railway station only a few days later of pneumonia. DS, one page, 8 x 13, July 8, 1905. Postal document for the acknowledgement of delivery of a registered letter sent to Tolstoy from V. Tchertkoff from the Bournemouth post office. Boldly signed on the proper line by Tolstoy, “Léon Tolstoy.” In very good condition, with scattered light toning and creasing, repair to a complete horizontal separation of document above signature, backed with a sheet of heavier stock at its lower half, and some scattered stray ink marks. COA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
