Founding father and first president of the Republic of China (1866-1925). ALS in English, signed “Sun Yat Sen,” one page, 4.5 x 7, June 21, 1897. Handwritten letter to Russian revolutionary Feliks Volkhovsky, written from "8 Gray's Inn Place" in London. In full: "The number of 'The Times' in which the question made in the House of Commons concerning of my kidnapping is that of the 16th of February. I am in a point of view to leave this country at the end of this month for America. I should like yo see you once more before I go if I can. If not let me bid my farewell to you now." In fine condition.
While living in exile in 1896, Sun Yat-sen was detained at the Chinese Legation in London, where the Chinese Imperial secret service planned to smuggle him back to China to execute him for his revolutionary activities. An English physician, James Cantlie, played a major role in obtaining his release, leading a media campaign in The Times and The Globe. Sun went on to write an 1897 book about his detention, Kidnapped in London, a copy of which he presented to Volkhovsky (now held by the Hoover Library at Stanford University); in an attached letter to Volkhovsky, Sun expressed that he could not write anything 'in perfect English without a friend's help,' suggesting Volkhovsky's assistance in the preparation of the work.
Feliks Volkhovsky (1846–1914) was one of several Russian political exiles that Sun Yat-sen met in London when he arrived in 1896. Volkhovsky was editor of the monthly journal of the Society of Friends of Russian Freedom, Free Russia, having previously spent seven years in solitary confinement in St. Petersburg, and eleven years in exile in Siberia before he eventually managed to escape to Canada under a pseudonym, arriving in London in 1890. Volkhovsky’s experience and knowledge proved hugely influential to Sun, who must have been inspired by the Russian's courage and determination in the face of political peril. A remarkable piece of correspondence connecting exiled revolutionaries at the end of the 19th century.
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