This edition of Nikolai Gogols classic short story The Overcoat presents the 1842 text together with newly commissioned artwork by Sarah Dobai.

Gogols tale of a modest government clerk whose life is briefly transformed by the purchase of a new coat has long held a central place in Russian literature and inspired numerous adaptations for stage and film. Dostoevsky famously remarked, “We all come out from Gogols The Overcoat,” acknowledging its lasting influence.

In her visual response, artist and filmmaker Sarah Dobai engages with the story and its themes of material desire, illusion and the fragile promises of appearance. Her photographs of shop windows in London and Paris, showing arrangements of merchandise, mannequins and staged displays, are placed in dialogue with the text and offer a contemporary reflection on Gogols narrative. Bringing together a foundational work of the nineteenth century and a modern visual interpretation, this edition opens the story to renewed perspectives.