This book is the first detailed history of the Russian Symbolist movement, which served as the seedbed of Existentialism and Modernism in Russia. It reassesses the symbolists' achievements in the light of modern research, focusing on their literary works. Prose is quoted in English translation and poetry is given in the original Russian with prose translations. There is a valuable bibliography of primary sources and an extensive chronological appendix. This book will fill a long-felt gap for students and teachers of Russian and comparative literature, symbolism, modernism, and pre-revolutionary Russian culture.