Brave New Soviet World: Winter Catalogue 2019

BOOKVICA 1 F O R E W O R D

Dear friends and colleagues,

We are happy to present our first catalogue of 2019 with 37 items exploring life of a new Soviet man from different perspectives. Books related to art and dedicated to art theory in the first section serve as evidence of a very dynamic art life in all social and professional circles - from academics to amateaurs and proletariat. Two small but very interesting brochures are presented in the section Women with focus on growing part of the woman in villages and their education and emancipation. Section Ukraine is something to take a look at if one is interested in life of other regions of the young USSR. One of the books is about human pyramids and physical education in Ukraine and is especially curious for its many illustrations. A several books in the section Judaica, one of which sheds light onto constructivist books in Yiddish of the time. Traditionl Architecture and Science sections are followed by sections dedicated to the art of book printing and book design with images of strinking covers. A special section is dedicated to Mikhail Bulgakov, one of the most famous Russian writers of the 20th century with a few first edition. Another national treasure, Alexander Rodchenko, with three books for which he designed covers. In the last Misc. section another curiosity might be found which is a samizdat (DIY) magazine created in the early 1920s by students of one of the schools, a very rare survival of the time. We continue our journey through early Soviet era and hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Bookvica team 2019

www.bookvica.com [email protected]

BOOKVICA 2 I ART

01 [TO KANDINSKY FROM HIS YOUNGER AVANT-GARDE BROTHER] Gritchenko, A. Russkaia ikona kak iskusstvo zhivopisi [i.e. The Russian Icon As The Art of Painting]. Moscow: Izd. avtora, [1917]. [2], 266 pp.: ill. 26,5x18,5 cm. In original covers with mounted illustration. Small fragments of spine lost, broken spine - p. 209-266 detached.

First and only edition. Very rare. #500 of 500 copies. Autograph with inscription for Vasily Kandinsky: “To the artist Vasily Vasilievich Kandinsky from author / artist A.V. Gritchenko / 1918, 22 XI”. No marks show that the book went through the postal service, so it probably was given personally - at that time both artists were in Moscow. This is the work by Alexis Gritchenko (Oleksa Hryshchenko; 1883-1977), the Ukrainian painter and art theorist who took part in exhibitions with Kandinsky, Malevich, Popova, Shagal (et al.), was a member of the Commission for the Preservation of Historic Monuments (together with Kandinsky) and taught in VKhUTEMAS until his emigration. In 1919, after his show ‘Dynamocolor’ he escaped to Constantinople and Paris. All artworks were given to students and his name was forgotten. Gritchenko was well-known for experiments with cubism and primitive art, using elements of the Russian icons, the Ukrainian lubok and the Italian frescos. One of his favorite topics, the Russian icon painting was analyzed in his lecture ‘How and Why We Came Up to the Russian Icon’ and this book became the enlarged and richly illustrated version. It is a complete copy with 110 mounted zincographies. Paper copies located at Princeton University, University of Cincinnati, NYPL, Getty Research Institute, Harvard College, UC Berkeley Libraries, The Morgan Library. $2,500

BOOKVICA 3 Cover. No 01 Illustration. No 01

Autograph. No 01

BOOKVICA 4 02 [MAYAKOVSKY ON THE PARISIAN ART SCENE] Gore pakharia: Khudozhestvenno-literaturnyi i obshhestvennyi dvuhnedel’nyi zhurnal [i.e. Woe of the Ploughman: Artistic, Literary and Social Two Weeks Magazine] #3, 1923. Vladivostok: Primgubkompomgol, 1923. 34 pp.: ill. 26x24 cm. In original illustrated covers, a small tear of the illustration. Good, restored cover and margins.

Very rare. One of 2000 copies. One issue of six ever published, the last one under this title (#4 appeared under the title ‘Typhoon’). Cover with mounted illustration by V. Pashkevich “Accord of Pain”. Four of his works reproduced inside as well. This is a rare magazine of the Soviet Far East Futurism, edited by Pavel Liubarsky (1891-1970), leading avant-garde artist of the region, founder of the art group ‘Green Cat’. Vladivostok was the last spark of futurism. The October Revolution and the Civil War scattered futurists in different directions, in particular, D. Burliuk and N. Aseev had gone to the Far East. There the new group ‘Creation’ was founded in 1920 and rallied, apart them, S. Tretiakov, N. Nasimovich-Chuzhak, A. Bogdanov, P. Luibarsky, N. Matveev, V. Mart, A. Nesmelov, et al. An heir of this group (and its magazine under the same name) became the magazine ‘Woe of the Ploughman’. Among the poems and articles by the local authors, the magazine published V. Mayakovsky’s impressions of Paris art life. He had visited France in 1922 and came back with vivid sketches on foreign culture. The magazine published that piece where Mayakovsky observed the art market, the workshops of Picasso, Goncharova and Larionov, Léger, Delaunay, Braque and Barthe. Mayakovsky remarked: “I remember, some Russian magazines noticed that Picasso turned to classicism. I can dispel any fears. Picasso has no classicism”. Interestingly, this text is illustrated with two artworks by V. Pashkevich and one by an unknown artist. Overall three illustrations in this issue depict the death, the Russian famine of 1921-1922. The magazine was published by Primgubkomgol (Primorsky Provincial Committee on Famine Support) which raised money for the starving Volga region. The bibliography on famine included as well. Worldcat doesn’t track this edition. $1,200

BOOKVICA 5 Title page. No 02

Title page. No 02

03 [CZECH CONSTRUCTIVIST MAYAKOVSKY, SIGNED] Mayakovsky, V. 150,000.000. Praha: Melantrich, 1945. 104 pp.: ill. 31x22 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Few pages detached, slightly rubbed.

Second edition of the first Czech translation. Copy signed by translator. Constructivist cover design and 9 original lithographies were made by avant-garde artist Václav Mašek (1893-1973). The Czech version of this epic propaganda poem was published before Mayakovsky appeared in Prague himself. It was translated in 1925 by an expert on Russian literature Bohumil Mathesius (1888- 1952). Two years later Mayakovsky burst in the Czech crowd with his loud weighty poem ‘150.000.000’ and people already knew him. The second edition was published shortly after World War II with new design and afterword by Mathesius. Two hundred copies from printrun were chosen and signed by translator or artist. Worldcat shows 3 copies located at University of Colorado Boulder, Getty Research Institute and Harvard College. $1,500

BOOKVICA 6 Cover. No 03 Portrait. No 03

Illustration. No 03 Title page. No 03

BOOKVICA 7 04 [ART IN WORKERS’ CLUBS] Edinyi khudozhestvennyi kruzhok: Metody klubno-khudozhestvennoi raboty [i.e. United Art Club: Methods of Art Club Work]. Leningrad: Knizhnyi sektor GUBONO, 1924. 44 pp., 1 pl.: ill. 23x16 cm. Publisher’s Constructivist oversized wrappers. Very good. Wrappers rubbed, small tears of the lower margin of the wrappers, underlinings in text (pencil).

First and only edition. Very rare. One of 5000 copies. This edition is a collection of articles on United Art Clubs including works by M. Brodsky (“Art as a Part of United Club’s Work”) and Adr. Piotrovsky (“Basics of Amateur Art”) with a short bibliography at the end and a visual scheme of Club’s work. The articles come with guidelines on how to organize work of each section being a part of whole organism of the Club. The originality of amateur art in the USSR was largely determined in the period of its formation in the 1920s and 1930s - the time of the breakdown of various ideologies and radical changes in the artistic life of the country and in society. The idea behind united art club was to combine every aspect of club work and life into one - art, literature, drama, sport, choir and put political section in charge of it. “United Art Club was a form of organization and functioning of art work at workers’ clubs. It was developed by theoreticians of cultural mass work in years from 1920 to 1925. This popular among methodists and political workers concept was nevertheless perceived negatively and scepticaly among those who practiced amateur art mostly for its impracticability and lack of social, personnel and material basis for its realization. The idea of the inspirers of the club was torn between the utopian idea of creating synthetic spectacular forms and the extremely utilitarian task of uniting and directing the work of all club teams to design social and political actions. … The theory of such clubs lost its relevance by 1925. Although it’s important to note that uniting collectives and groups in order to create dramatizations for special occasions was widespread for a long time”. (Sukhanova, T.A. Amateur artwork in Russia of the 20th century) Overall a very valuable source of rare materials for studying history of life and art of clubs and proletariat against the background of changing society and fights between politics and art. WorldCat locates a copy at the University of Chicago. $750

BOOKVICA 8 Chart of club’s sections. No 04

Cover. No 04

05 [AVANT-GARDE ART OF SOVIET WORKERS] Iskusstvo rabochikh: Kruzhki IZO rabochikh klubov Leningrada i masterskie ISO Oblpolitprosveta pri DPR im. Gertsena [i.e. Workers’ Art. Art Sections in Leningrad Workers’ Clubs and Art Studios of the Oblpolitprosvet at Hertsen DPR]. Leningrad: Gosud. russkii muzei, 1928. 72 pp.: ill. 18x14 cm. In original Constructivist wrappers designed by M.S. Brodsky. Very good. Bleak damp stains on the side margin throughout the book (not affecting text).

First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. Very rare. This edition is dedicated to workers’ art which was its rise in

BOOKVICA 9 the 1920s. Introduction by Nikolay Punin emphasizes the significance of workers’ amateur art for the Soviet art life in general and for bringing up of Soviet man as well. His intro is followed by a flattering article by Vsevolod Voinov. A very interesting outline of history is given next as well as results of the work by M. Brodsky which completes the picture. The catalogue of the exhibition held in 1925 in Russian Museum in Leningrad and later in Moscow is next (no details, general information about halls) and a very curious list of Art Clubs which took part in both shows (67 clubs provided more than 1000 works). Text is accompanied by works shown at exhibitions. Cover was designed by Moisei Brodsky (1896-1944), Soviet artist, who was actively involved in creating and developing the basics for preparing amateur artists. This was a kind of experiment started in 1923 by Gubpolitprosvet when they combined all sections of clubs into one, United Art Club, with amateur art as a the foundation. It was almost a disaster for the art sections at first, it meant losing academic traditions. The setting “art is apolitical, art is an end in itself” was destroyeda as club work was first of all propaganda, agitation, education. Many directors were not ready for these changes so Gubpolitprosvet designed a project of retraining directors and appointed as the head of the largest centre of art work Moisei Brodsky. His work resulted in creation of a new artistic movement and helding a big exhibition at state museum. Exactly in 1928 Izoram (Art Workshops of Proletariat Youth) was created, a coalition included nearly 80 amateur art groups. The ideologist and the official head of the movement, which envisioned the search for a new realism and the creation of the ‘‘art of the workers’’ - Moisei Brodsky. “Izoram was closely associated with the left avant- garde. Suprematists and students of Kazimir Malevich, E. Krimmer, K. Rozhdestvensky, I. Chashnik, L. Yudin took part in the group’s activities. Belonging to the Left circle, this group was focused not so much on Fauvism, Expressionism and Cubism, <...>, as on the painting of purists” (Savitsky). WorldCat locates copies at The MET, Columbia University, Getty Research Institute, Stanford University, NYPL, Harvard Library. $1,200

BOOKVICA 10 Cover. No 05

Illustrations. No 05

BOOKVICA 11 06 [SOVIET MURALS] Chernyshev, N.M. Tekhnika stennykh rospisei [i.e. The Technique of Murals]. Moscow: Khudozhestv.-izdat. akts. o-vo AKhR, 1930. 114, [2] pp.: ill. 19x13 cm. In publisher’s illustrated wrappers. A very good internally clean copy, signature on t.p. (pencil), rubbed wrappers, small tears and losses of the spine, Soviet bookshop’s stamp on the rear cover and last page.

First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Rare. Woodcut on the cover by N.A. Sheverdyaev (1872—1952). In the late 1900s he worked as an engraving assistant for I.N. Pavlova. From the 1920s he taught engraving at VKhutemas and was the dean of the graphic department. Nikolai Chernyshov (1885-1973), Soviet artist and art critic, V.A. Serov’s student, professor, member of Makovets art group. In the 1920s he studied Old Russian frescos and found interest in monumental paintings (murals). He taught at Vkhutemas, Vkhutein and other. He brought up the whole generation of muralists. This book is not an academic study but a set of guidelines - conditions necessary for painting, technical methods of wall painting, colors and kinds of paints, instruments, fresco, sgraffito, tempera, glue painting, oil painting, wax painting, mineral painting, etc. Numerous images in the text from the primitive drawings of the instruments to frescos and photographs of workers painting murals on walls. Overall, an interesting work with valuable visual material on the art form especially appreciated in the early Soviet years. Not found on WorldCat. $950

Cover. No 06

BOOKVICA 12 Photographs. No 06

BOOKVICA 13 07 [HISTORY OF RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE GROUPS] Lobanov, V.M. Khudozhestvennye gruppirovki za poslednie 25 let [i.e. Art Groups for the Last Twenty Five Years]. Moscow: Khud. izd. akts. o-vo AKhR, 1930. 148 pp. 19x13 cm. Publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Very good. Restoration of the wrappers (original spine is lost), Soviet bookshop’s stamp on the recto of the rear cover, a few underlining in text (pencil).

First edition. One of 5000 copies. Scarce. Viktor Lobanov (1885-1970), art critic and writer. Often he wrote articles in the periodicals about artists, exhibitions, articles for catalogs of art exhibitions; wrote more than a dozen books about Russian artists. But he entered the history of Russian avant-garde as the author of this important well-known book. This was the first work of such kind combining information on all art groups of the most intense period of life and art of the country. This edition came out right one time because in 1932 an infamous decree about elimination of all art formations and styles but one was established. Worldcat locates paper copies at the Frick Art Library, Yale University, Brown University, University of Chicago, Stanford, UC Berkeley, University of Pittsburgh. $750

Cover. No 07

BOOKVICA 14 08 [EXPRESSIONISM] Zivel’chinskaya, L.Ya. Ekspressionizm [i.e. Expressionism]. Moscow; Leningrad: Ogiz-Izogiz, 1931. 139, [2] pp.: ill. 18x13 cm. Publisher’s wrappers. Near fine. wrappers slightly rubbed.

First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Scarce. This is an extensive work on the theory of expressionism by Lia Zivel’chinskaya (1894-1985), professor and doctor of philology, Soviet literary and art critic, aesthetics specialist. Besides exploring theory and practices of expressionism the author chapters on three artists including Vasily Kandinsky. The text is supplemented with works by Kandinsky, Kokoshka, Munk. Klee, Chagall and other mostly German painters. The bibliography list is included. The whole chapter is devoted to the influence of expressionism on Soviet art. Here the significant influence of this trend on artists of the OST and “October” groups is emphasized, the expressionist tendency of the development of a certain stage of creativity of Deineka, Pimenov, Goncharov is noted. The “indelible influence of German expressionism” on Tyshler’s works has been highlighted. In evaluating expressionism as a reactionary art movement, the author discovers those moments that

Cover. No 08 Cover. No 08

BOOKVICA 15 might be relevant for Soviet art: “denial of the passive reflection of the naturalistic creative method”. Worldcat locates copies at Getty Research Institute, University of Arizona, University of Wisconsin, University of Iowa, Yale, Harvard. $750

Illustration. No 08

BOOKVICA 16 II WOMEN

09 [WOMEN’S CLUB IN THE VILLAGE] Tumim, O. Zhenskii klub v derevne [i.e. Women’s Club in the Village]. 2nd ed. Petrograd: Nachatki znanii, 1919. 32 pp. 18x15 cm. Publisher’s printed wrappers with yellow ornamented frame on the front wrapper. Very good. Some rubbing and soiling of the wrappers.

Second edition (first edition was printed earlier the same year). Very rare. This edition consists of two parts. In the first the story of the nurse Anna is told, she was tired of hungry and poor life in the city and decided to go to a village where she spontaneously created a club for women. The second part is her letter to a teacher Maria in a nearby village titles “How to Organize a Club and Its Work”. In this letter Anna gives practical advice on how to start the club and how to engage women. Both parts are written in a colloquial language to be easily understandable for all people. Cultural and Educational Cooperative Partnership “Nachatki Znanii” (i.e. Rudiments of Knowledge) saw its purpose in organizing peasants and workers and help them to start self- organize and self-educate. One of the forms of such self-organization was a club both in cities and villages. USSR was formed only in 1922 and mass building of the clubs started later but in 1919, after the WWI and during the Civil war, there was already a need in mobilizing, organizing and educating people. An important condition for the successful solution of the women’s question was the implementation of the Leninist plan for the cultural revolution in the USSR. Along with the socialist industrialization of the country, the collectivization of agriculture, the fair solution of the national question, the cultural revolution played a huge role in developing the creative initiative of working people, including women, in fully engaging them in building a new society led by the Leninist party. Later the Communist Party and the Soviet government directed efforts, as A.M. Kollontai wrote, to ‘‘on one hand raise with the help of clubs, schools and generally broad education,

BOOKVICA 17 a cultural level, to develop a knowledge, on the other, to bring life into accord with more protecting the interests of women Soviet laws’’. The content of the cultural work of the Soviet state reflected the Leninist course of enhancing the participation of women in the construction of a new life. Overall, a rare example of early club propaganda for women. Not found on WorldCat as well as the first edition. $400

Cover. No 09

10 [DRAMATIZATION OF A FICTITIOUS POLITICAL TRIAL] Sel’korka: (Politsud) [i.e. Female Village Correspondent: Political Trial]. Leningrad: Priboi, 1925. 40 pp. 19,5x13,5 cm. In publisher’s photomontage wrappers. Very good. Small tears of the spine, small black square painted on the t.p. (painted over), traces of something glued to the verso of the front wrapper.

First and only edition. One of 10000 copies. Very rare.

BOOKVICA 18 Sel’korka (sel’skaya korrespondentka) is a name for female correspondent in villages. Here it is also a name of the play which dramatizes fictitious political trial. The case of Anna Ivanova, a citizen of the village of Peski, on charges of unfounded public discrediting through the press of a rural cooperative organization. Political trials were legal and quasi-legal trials during which defendants are accused of offenses against the existing political system or state. It was a common thing in 1920s when Soviet statesmen were looking for the most effective propaganda tools. Here the defendant was found not guilty as evidence proving her publications true were found. Originally she published materials exposing conspiracy and corruption in the village. The slogan on the front cover “Sel’korka is a friend to women of village and pillar of the community” supports this play and edition in being a propaganda of education, newspapers and women’s emancipation. Not found in Worldcat. $1,000

Cover. No 10

BOOKVICA 19 III UKRAINE

11 [THEATRE TRAVELS FROM UKRAINE TO FAR EAST] Dramatichesky Krasnozavodsky teatr. 1922-1928: Shest’ let sushchestvovaniya [i.e. Dramatic Red Factory Theatre. 1922-1928: Six Years of Existence]. [Moscow, 1928]. 32 pp.: ill. 26x18 cm. In publisher’s constructivist wrappers. Very good. Soiling and spots on rubbed wrappers, tears of the spine, inscription on the verso of the front cover (pencil).

First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. Very rare. Wrapper design by E. Mel’nikova. A very interesting book containing information on the history of the theatre which later became known as The Donetsk National Academic Ukrainian Musical and Drama Theatre. In almost all open sources it is stated that art life of the theatre began in 1927 when Ukrainian workers’ theatre was created in Kharkiv. But this theatre was created earlier in 1922 and even moved to Far East in 1927 for a couple of years. This edition describes the early history of the theatre, why it emerged at that time in Ukraine’s capital during tough years, what principles became the foundation of the theatre, its repertoire and troupe, its search for art forms, comparison with Moscow theatres, etc. It was a very advanced theatre at that time already serving the needs of young proletariat class. Text is accompanied by rare photographs of people involved, actors, directors, set designs, whole troupes. Elena Mel’nikova (1902–1989), Soviet painter, graphic artist, poster artist. Member of the Union of Artists of the USSR. Author of paintings and propaganda works on social themes. She worked as a book illustrator and muralist. In 1918 she entered the First State Free Art Studios, later on the painting department of VKhUTEMAS. She studied first in the embroidery workshop, then in the painting department of A.D. Drevin, A.M. Rodchenko, N.A. Udaltsova. She graduated from VKhUTEMAS in the workshop of D. P. Shterenberg in 1925. At the same time she worked for ROSTA windows, was engaged in the creation of

BOOKVICA 20 posters, wall newspapers, embroidering banners for military units. At the end of art workshops she worked as a graphic artist and painter, participated in the design of exhibitions and mass holidays. In 1926, E. Melnikova joined the large artistic association OST, participated in all its exhibitions (1926-1928). Not found in Worldcat. $1,200

Cover. No 11

Photo. No 11

BOOKVICA 21 Photo. No 11

12 [PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN UKRAINIAN SCHOOLS] Kostiuk V.A., Shishmariova E.S. 400 piramid i elementiv: Metodichnyi pidruchnik dlya shkoli i gurtkiv fizkul’tury. Z 457 maliunkami [i.e. 400 Pyramids and Elements: Methodical Textbook for Schools and Sport Sections. With 457 Drawings]. Kharkiv: Na varti, 1931. 174, [2] pp.: ill. 17x14 cm. Publisher’s illustrated Constructivist wrappers. Wrappers slightly rubbed, a few bleak stains on the rear cover, small tear of t.p. Otherwise very good.

First and only edition. One of 10000 copies. Very rare. In Ukrainian. This beautiful edition dedicated to physical education in schools and sport sections or clubs consists of two parts. First part is a kind of a textbook with guidelines on pyramids and other elements, gymnastic formations of two and more people. The authors provide terminology and classifications of elements, principles and techniques of formations, preparations for performance, thematic design of the pyramids, short list of literature (including authors other publications on the subject in Russian and Ukrainian). The second part consists of drawings of pyramids and other elements, for example, formations of figures like airplane or phrases like “1st of May”. Pyramids and physical education in general was a propaganda tool and a way to bring order to everyday life. Physical exercises were

BOOKVICA 22 carried out in the form of building pyramids, acrobatic and dance movements, a “live newspaper”, they had to resemble movements of a machine, hammermen, reapers, plowmen, etc. The daily work of clubs and sport sections turned into the preparation of such performances. Defining the ideological orientation of physical culture in a socialist society, the party indicated that it should be considered not only as a means of physical education and rehabilitation, work and military training of young people, but also as a means of rallying the broad masses of the population around the party, Soviet and professional organizations through which they are involved in social and political life. “Soviet officials saw in physical education a way to grow harmonious individuals who would become integral parts of an ideal society ... According to official declarations, the aim of Soviet PE was to prepare the people for the construction of socialism”. “Physical education was one of the ways in which Soviet officials sought to get a healthy and

Cover. No 12

BOOKVICA 23 physically strong population. Doctors of the People’s Commissariat of Health considered physical exercise a way of maintaining physical health and productivity. But both in the USSR and in other countries army officers were also interested in physical culture: in their eyes it was one of the types of military training. ... It was also a way to change the attitude of people towards work. In the 1920s, Soviet specialists in physical education created new disciplines: labor gymnastics and labor sports. Soviet physical culture shows combined images of work and sport. ... In contrast to the traditional forms of leisure, which purely could include drinking alcohol, playing cards, Soviet leisure should have been part of a balanced lifestyle”. (Hoffman, D.L. Cultivating the Masses) Not found on Worldcat. $750

Illustrations. No 12

BOOKVICA 24 Illustrations. No 12

13 [UKRAINIAN OPERA IN MOSCOW] Zaporozhets za Dunaem: Postanovka Gos. akad. teatra opery i baleta USSR: Gastroli v Moskve 11-21 marta 1936 g. v Bol’shom teatre SSSR [i.e. A Zaporozhian Beyond the Danube: Production of the State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet of USSR: Tour in Moscow from 11 to 21 March of 1936 at the Bolshoi Theatre]. [Kiev]; Kharkiv: Mistetstvo, 1936. 70, [2] pp.: ill., 2 pl. 25х17,5 cm. In original blank wrappers and illustrated dust wrappers with Ukrainian folk floral decoration. Vertical crease of the whole book, small tears of the spine, Soviet bookshops’ stamps both on the wrapper and dust wrapper, tears and losses of the dust wrapper.

First and only edition. Rare. One of 5000 copies. In Russian. The edition’s decoration echoes the national Ukrainian leitmotif of the opera (designed by G.M. Pustovoit). Set and costume design by A.V. Khvostov. The edition includes opera libretto, description of dances and designs of the production, history of the opera and composer’s biography, principles of staging this production. This is an illustrated program of the performance with two colorful plates of the decorations. Zaporozhets (Cossack) Beyond the Danube is a Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts

BOOKVICA 25 with music and libretto by the composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813–1873). This is one of the best-known Ukrainian comic operas depicting national themes. It was premiered with a Russian libretto on 26 April 1863, in St Petersburg. (However, it is now normally performed in a Ukrainian translation.) Shortly after the premiere, the Russian government, frightened by the Polish uprising of 1863, began repressions against the manifestations of the national culture of the people who were part of the Russian Empire, seeing the trends of “separatism” everywhere. The censorship ban concerned the development of Ukrainian drama and theater. Apart from separate amateur performances, “Zaporozhets beyond the Danube” was staged for the first time after 1863 by the Ukrainian troupe only in 1884 in Rostov-on-Don. The story depicts the events following the destruction of the island fortress of Zaporizhian Sich, the historic stronghold of the Ukrainian Cossacks on the Dnieper River. Although historically this destruction was ordered by the Russian Empress Catherine II in 1775, for unknown reasons the composer chose to set the action in 1772. To tell the story of the freedom-loving Zaporozhian Cossacks of Ukraine, who had fought against the Russian Empire, Hulak-Artemovsky deliberately set the story in Turkish lands with the Cossacks fighting for the Sultan. This change of locale helped the work get past the Tsar’s censors, who normally banned stories about Ukrainian Cossacks. (Wikipedia) The restoration of the opera on stage fell on the Soviet times. At the time of Proletkult in the 1920s, an attempt was made to “modernize” the Zaporozhets in Kharkov. In essence, the new libretto in the genre of “accusatory” satirical comedy was written by Ostap Vishnya: the main characters of the opera, like immigrants in Morocco, played the classic “Zaporozhets beyond the Danube” for the natives in order to earn “bread”. Composer Mikhail Tits added a number of vocal and instrumental numbers, using themes from popular romances, folk songs, fashion dances and jazz motifs. For the first time in the «classic» form, «Zaporozhets» was staged at the Kiev Opera in 1934, and since then almost all the leading singers of Ukraine have sung in it. It was shown in Moscow on the Decades of Ukrainian art in March 1936 and in June 1951. Worldcat locates a copy at Yale University and Library of Congress. $950

BOOKVICA 26 Front cover. No 13 Back cover. No 13

Illustration. No 13

BOOKVICA 27 IV JUDAICA

14 [WHAT WAS PUBLISHED FOR JEWISH PEOPLE DURING NEP] Katalag #5 [i.e. Catalogue #5]. Moscow: Aktsyen gezelshaft ‘Shul un bukh’, 1927. 40 pp.: ill., [8] ads. 19x13,5 cm. In original covers. Restored, glue traces on the inner margin of first and last pages, otherwise very good.

First and only edition. Scarce. One of 15000 copies. Constructivist cover is printed in Yiddish and Russian, the catalogue itself is in Yiddish. The catalogue could be regarded as the reference material for the constructivist book design of Moscow-published yiddish books. The catalogue contains nine sections from books on politics and art to the educational literature and children’s books. The catalogue shows 38 covers of published books confirming the constructivist design of 1920s Jewish editions.

This is the fifth book trade catalogue of ‘Shul un bukh’ which significantly contributed to the Soviet Jewish publishing in 1923-1928. In the 1920s there was an attempt to create the culture and life of a new Jewish society. The press, book publishing, schools and socialist propaganda organizations in Yiddish developed with new energy. No copies located in US, according to the Worldcat. $1,200

Cover. No 14

BOOKVICA 28 Illustrations. No 14

BOOKVICA 29 15 [YIDDISH THEATRE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION] Oyslender, N. Yidisher teater. 1887-1917 [i.e. Yiddish Theatre. 1887-1917]. Moscow: Emes, 1940. 319 pp. 22x15 cm. In original full-cloth binding with colored and blind lettering. In very good condition.

First and only edition. One of 2000 copies. In Yiddish. A phenomenon of the Yiddish theatre stood alive in the Russian Empire even if tsarism restricted it in 1883 and the initiator of the modern Yiddish theatre Abraham Goldfaden with his troupe had to leave the country. The performances illegally staged and it mostly was ‘play for the sake of play’ by the semiliterate actors. After the 1905 Russian revolution, the Jewish theatres were allowed, the troupes changed the manner of staging and repertoire: the world plays and the works of contemporary playwrights were performed as well. The Jewish critic and literary historian Nokhem Oyslender (Nahum Auslaender; 1893-1962) analyzed the impact of playwrights, actors and directors on Yiddish theatre and culture for the last 30 years of the Russian Empire. Worldcat shows 4 printed copies at Hebrew Union College, University of Florida, Johns Hopkins University and Stanford University. $900

No 10

Cover. No 15

BOOKVICA 30 V BOOK CULTURE

16 [FOR THE DESIGNERS OF THE NEW SOCIALIST BOOK] Poligraficheskoe oformlenie massovoi knigi [i.e. Polygraphic Design of the Mass Book]. Moscow: Gos. izdatelstvo legkoi promyshlennosti, 1932. 146, [2] pp.: ill. 20x13 cm. In original wrappers. Small fragments of spine lost, pale foxing occasionally and previous owner’s stamp on t.p., otherwise very good.

First and only edition. Rare. One of 5200 copies. Constructivist anonymous design. This book is a kind of manual explaining how to influence the masses via the book or any printed text. The principles of the Soviet book design were first developed and analyzed typefaces and their composition, illustrations and rubrics, layout in general and standards of the Soviet publishing process. According to tasks of the Soviet epoch, the book was a tool of propaganda. This edition itself is an example of acting design. The book was initiated by Leningrad Research Institute

Front cover. No 16 Back cover. No 16

BOOKVICA 31 of Bibliology and was composed by young specialists in the publishing industry. Not in the Worldcat. $500

Examples of book covers. No 16

BOOKVICA 32 VI ARCHITECTURE

17 [“LEARN TO REST REASONABLY”] Kooperativnye doma otdykha i dachi: Rabochee zhilishchno-stroitel’noe kooperativnoe tovarishchestvo “Dom otdykha” [i.e. Cooperative Country Houses and Cottages: Workers’ House Constructing Partnership “Holiday House”]. Moscow: R.Zh.S.K. t-vo “Dom otdykha”, [1928]. 36, [4] pp.: ill. 26x17 cm. In original publisher’s photomontage oversized wrappers. Very good. Wrappers rubbed with some minor restoration, faded ink stamp on the front wrapper, creases and small tears of the extremities of the wrappers.

First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. Very rare. This edition is an amazing evidence of the labour hygiene that was initiated in a new country - annual two week vacation for which government was determined to create a public system of sanatoriums and pensions. Holiday or rest houses (‘doma otdykha’ literally means houses of rest), sanatoriums and pensions were distinctive for the USSR from the very beginning of its existence. They were designed to provide rest for workers. The Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR of May 13, 1921 “On Holiday Houses” was the first law of post- revolutionary Russia, which regulated the creation of an institute of holiday homes in order to give workers and employees the opportunity to recover their strength and energy during their annual regular leave in the most favorable and healthy conditions. In addition, the decree prescribed at the rest house to create an agricultural enterprise, whose workers will provide meals for guests of the holiday home. This decree was signed by Lenin. This particular edition sheds light onto cooperative partnership “Dom otdykha” (i.e. Holiday House) which was offering accommodations for rest in “nice places” like Kuban’, Crimea, Moscow region to its members. The idea of organizing such houses on a cooperative basis arose in the early years of New Economic Policy (NEP). This particular co-op was established in 1925. In this edition are briefly described the

BOOKVICA 33 history of its establishment, two year work, reviews of vacationists, who can become a member of the co-op, FAQ, financial balance, contributions, resolutions of the assembly of commissioners, information on current accomodations and for those who was coming to stay, etc. All information is accompanied by many photographs of resting proletariat. Overall, a very interesting and rich source of photographs and information on day to day life and politics during NEP era. Not found on Worldcat. $750

Cover. No 17

Photo. No 17

BOOKVICA 34 12

Photographs. No 17

BOOKVICA 35 18 [SOVIET INDUSTRIAL ARCHITECTURE] Tsvetaev, V.D. Sovremennaia fabrichno-zavodskaia arkhitektura [i.e. Modern Industrial Architecture]. 2nd ed. Moscow: Gosstroiizdat, 1933. 530 pp.: ill. 30,5x24 cm. In original blue cloth with silver lettering. No dust jacket. Light shelf wear and soiling of covers, otherwise very good and clean internally.

Rare. Title pages in Russian and German. Cover design by Boris Titov (1897-1951), the absolute leader in number of book designs. This is an impressive work by Vladimir Tsvetaev (1891- 1937) who was an architect and head of the department of industrial and civil buildings of the Moscow Civil Engineering Institute. The industrialization requires completely different methods of construction. Tsvetaev summed up the technical experience in civil engineering of the first five-year plan and offered systematic material for designing and building. He published calculating for the separate elements of buildings, supporting them with drawings and photographs. The book is divided into sections: industrial buildings, walls and fillings, separate supports, lap lengths, roofs, prefabricated reinforced concrete structures, daylighting for buildings, stairs, partitions, floors, doors, tambours and gates, hatches. The bibliography of the main works used by the author is published and included overall 170 titles. Three copies located at Princeton University, University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania. $950

Cover. No 18

BOOKVICA 36 Illustrations. No 18

BOOKVICA 37 19 [LIFE OF SANATORIUM] Sbornik, posviashchennyi desiatiletiiu sanatoriia #1 im. 10 let Oktyabrya v Kislovodske. 1924-1934: 20 risunkov v tekste i 21 ris. na vkleikakh [i.e. Collection Dedicated to a Ten Year Anniversary of 10 Year of October Sanatorium #1 in Kislovodsk. 1924-1934: 20 Drawings in Text and 21 Plates]. Moscow; Leningrad: Biomedgiz, 1935. 63 pp., 21 pl.: ill. 23x30 cm. In publisher’s cloth with stamping. A bleak damp stain on the front board. Otherwise very good/near fine.

First and only edition. Very rare. One of 2200 copies. Inscribed by director of sanatorium and editor of album Moisei Bolotner for a patient who actively participated in the resort development (15.09.1935). This is a beautiful celebratory edition with many high-quality photomontages on day-to-day activities of the sanatorium in the 1920s-30s. 21 constructivist compositions were made by Efim Smekhov, the graduate of VKhUTEMAS and chief artist of the publishing house «Medicine». The photographs were placed inside geometrical and thematic forms; one of the leaves shows a charming idea to use the frame of a tooth for photomontage on the dental procedures. Soviet people were proud of their own philosophy of leisure and recreation, considering them an integral part of socialism, whose ideals defended. Thus, health resorts were considered as a key component of Soviet superiority. Vacation was perceived as a time of proper rest, and here the material was allowed to prevail over the spiritual. Such a philosophy gave architects the «green light»: they could implement the most «daring and brilliant designs» without regard to cost. Across the former Union, we find sanatoriums that are excellent examples of a wide variety of architectural styles, and Kislovodsk wasn’t an exception. The 1930s were a period of rapid development of Kislovodsk in many ways. It was decorated with creations of famous architects (M. Ginzburg, I. Leonidov, etc.). One of Sanatorium’s buildings was designed during a constructivist era, but later its traces disappeared, replaced by the Stalinist constructions, and the original one remained as design and photograph exclusively in this album. Kislovodsk Sanatorium #1 was the prime resort for members of the Communist Party where the major cardiology and neuropathology specialists worked, including Iushchenko, Davidenkov, Pletnev, Breitman, Ianovskii, Polonskii, Kogan. Thanks to them, the focus mostly was on the

BOOKVICA 38 heart diseases and the nervous system diseases. They developed experimental research: the electrocardiogram monitoring was organized during the trip by car and after climbing the hill. The process is recorded in these articles and results are presented in tables and charts. The sanatorium had the newest devices for the hydropathy, electrocardiogram, dentistry, radiography, etc. Due to the fact that most of the patients worked in offices, the focus mostly was on outdoor activities, motion therapy and walks. And curiously, there was the collaboration of the patients and doctors for improving the procedures. The sanatorium is still alive and now it has the name ‘Pearl of Caucasus’. Worldcat doesn’t track this edition. $1,000

Cover. No 19

No 19

BOOKVICA 39 No 19

BOOKVICA 40 No 19

20 [HOW TO DESIGN ORNAMENTS] Filippov, A.V. Postroenie ornamenta s bol’shim chislom variantov [i.e. Designing Ornament with Many Variations]. Moscow: Izd-vo Vses. akad. arkhitektury, 1937. 85, [3] pp.: ill. 24x17 cm. In publisher’s wrappers. Wrappers slightly rubbed and soiled, front cover with light creases, tears and minor losses of the spine, original price is crossed out with black pencil in imprint (the crossed out price is different from the one printed on the back of the back cover), owner’s signature (from 1942) and Shanghai bookshop’s ink stamp on the t.p. Otherwise very good.

First and only edition. One of 2900 copies. Rare. This edition is dedicated to a method of forming various ornaments was suggested to be used mainly in architecture but not exclusively. At that point there were almost no translated or original

BOOKVICA 41 works on theory of ornament so this edition was especially interesting for art schools and clubs so the author included short history and theory of ornaments. Thirteen groups of elements illustrated by 10-12 variants of different combinations which gives nearly 200 patterns of geometrical, floral, arabesque ornament. All patterns are numbered and captioned at the end of the book. Aleksei Filippov (1882-1956), Russian and Soviet ceramic artist, member of Academy of Architecture of USSR, restorer, the organizer of ceramic production and the developer of new types of ceramic cladding. Researcher and founder of the scientific restoration of ancient Russian tiles. He founded in 1904 and headed artel of ceramists “Murava” of which Mitrokhin, Maliutin, Konenkov were members. An interesting book with numerous ornament patterns which gives a glimpse into designing process of the 1930s and provides explanation of some of the remaining ornaments which are still found in Russia. WorldCat doesn’t locate any copies. $800

Cover. No 20 Photographs. No 20

BOOKVICA 42 Illustrations. No 20

BOOKVICA 43 21 [PARKS OF CAUCASUS AND CRIMEA] Kolesnikov, A.I. Arkhitektura parkov Kavkaza i Kryma [i.e. Architecture of Caucasus and Crimea Parks]. [Moscow]: Izd-vo i tip. Gos. arkhitekturnogo izd-va, 1949. 175 pp., 16 pl.: ill. 30x21 cm. In publisher’s illustrated cardboard bindings. Cloth spine with title stamped in blue paint and ornament in blind. Illustrated endpapers. Binding is rubbed on extremities, damp stains on the binding and throughout the book, some scratches on the front board. Otherwise a very good, clean copy.

First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Scarce. This capital work is dedicated to landscape designs and architecture of parks in Soviet south and very popular destination among tourists - Caucasus and Crimea. Already in 1940s Soviet south and the Black Sea coast was full of spa resorts and was being developed in this direction. Construction of parks and was a priority. This edition is the author’s research of south parks made in 1938-1940. Here are “the most valuable parks in historical and architectural aspects”, both old and new with detailed analysis. Author also states that plan materials were not preserved so a few plans given in the book were made from the author’s measurements. The author also was not focusing on description of large building like manor houses, they are partially described and shown on photographs. Some of these buildings and many of park landscape were destroyed during the World War II. In the first part the author provided a short account of history and features of landscape design and construction in South Crimea, detailed descriptions for 6 parks of Crimea and more general descriptions of parks in 5 regions of Crimea. In the second half dedicated to Black Sea Coast of Caucasus there are 4 parks described as well as parks of such regions like Batumi, Sukhumi, Adler, Sochi, Gagry, etc. The author also gave a conclusion with suggestions for future engineers and designers and bibliography list of 29 titles. Numerous photographs throughout the book of parks, trees, plants, buildings, architectural details, people, etc. Aleksandr Kolesnikov (1888-1965) was professor and rector of Institute of Agriculture and Forestry in Kharkiv. He took an active part in organization of forestry and forest selection which was reflected in numerous articles published in specialized Ukrainian magazines and over 60 published works. Kolesnikov was irreconcilable to the lack of professionalism in landscape design and construction. In his book

BOOKVICA 44 “Problems of Park Architecture” (1936) he stated: “In projects of parks, in most cases, one does not see the desire to create a single architectural image, one cannot see the search for style. In design solutions, naked functionalism and simplification or formalism prevail, sometimes turning into graphic “trickness” (for example, the system of tracks and grounds of the park tend to take the form of industrial elements - gears, transmissions, etc. - or an intricate geometric figure of a complex pattern, etc. .). There are many examples when, when striving for a particular graphic solution of the plan, the natural environment is not sufficiently taken into account. ” Same criticism one can find in this edition. Overall, a very valuable collection of pre-WWII photographs, plans and illustrations of parks in Caucasus and Crimea. WorldCat locates copies in NYPL, Columbia University, Cornell University, Getty Research Institute, Library of Congress, Stanford, University of California. $900

Cover. No 21 Title page. No 21

BOOKVICA 45 No 21

BOOKVICA 46 22 [NEW MINSK] Osmolovsky, M.S. Minsk. Moscow: Gosizdat lit. po stroitel’stvu i arkhitekture, 1952. 111 pp.: ill. 29х22,5 cm. In publisher’s cardboards. Some rubbing of the spine and soiling of the boards, otherwise very good.

Scarce. One of 5000 copies. From the series “Praktika sovetskogo gradostroitel’stva” (i.e. Practice of Soviet Urban Planning). This book is the first attempt of generalization of Minsk urban planning of the time. The book has a historical reference about the appearance of the city, the formation of its plan and settlement in the capitalist period (with plans and photographs of the pre-revolutionary period). It provides information about the improvement in the years of the Stalin five-year plans and the destruction of the WWII period. Among the photos there is a photo of national library - a monument of constructivism which survived the war. It was built in 1926 by famous architect Georgy Lavrov. During the war, Minsk was almost completely destroyed, and as a result of its restoration, the appearance of the city sometimes changed beyond recognition. So the focus of the book is on planning and new construction. The first post-war general plan of Minsk was drawn up by Belgosproject at the end of 1945. The master plan was preceded by a sketch, in which architects A. Shchusev, A. Mordvinov, N. Kolli, V. Semenov, I. Langbard and others participated. Many of the dilapidated buildings could be restored, as can be seen by looking at the film and photo chronicles of those years. However, prominent architects who came to Minsk from Leningrad and Moscow decided that most of the old buildings should be demolished and a new city should be built. The leadership of the city and the republic supported this decision. The book contains many images from projects submitted for the competition, as well as photographs of the constructed buildings; photos of the post- war reconstruction of streets and courtyards, improvement of parks and stadiums (stadium Dynamo by architect Colley); photographs of the construction process (for example, a house on the station square of the architect Rubanenko still exists today - a typical example of the building period); photos of nurseries, schools and other utilitarian buildings. Overall, a very interesting account of Minsk architecture before

BOOKVICA 47 and after WWII. Worldcat locates copies at Syracuse University, LOC, University of Michigan, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, University of Minnesota, Texas A&M University, University of Washington Libraries, Fuller Theological Seminary Library, Stanford University Libraries. $350

Cover. No 22

Illustrations. No 22

BOOKVICA 48 23 [SOVIET CERAMICS] Stroitel’naia keramika: Katalog-spravochnik [i.e. Building Ceramics: Catalogue]. 2nd ed. Kiev: Gostekhizdat USSR, 1954. 122 pp.: ill., 1 pl. 28x42 cm (oblong). In original publisher’s cloth. Lacking cardboard case, otherwise very good.

One of 5000 copies. Design by artist T.D. Zinchenko. Very rare. A great collection of images of Kiev’s architecture with focus on ceramics used for construction (walls, overlapping, canals, shingles), finish works (facing), arranging public spaces (fences) with table of colours of ceramic clays of Ukraine. Worldcat locates a copy in Getty Research Institute. $1,700

No 23

BOOKVICA 49 VII ALEXANDER RODCHENKO

24 [RODCHENKO DESIGN] Fournier, L. Chudesa stroitel’nogo iskusstva / per. c fr. s dop. Pod red. E.V. Blizniaka [i.e. Wonders of Construction Art / Translated from French with Additions. Ed. by E.V. Blizniak]. Moscow: Transpechat’, 1926. 230 pp.: ill. 17x11 cm. In publisher’s photomontage wrappers. A bit loose, minor tears of the spine, a small piece of the spine lost, a few spots and small stain on the wrappers, numbers on the front wrapper (ink), otherwise very good.

First and only edition. One of 7080 copies. Very rare. Constructivist cover design by Alexander Rodchenko. The book describes various structures built in Western countries: bridges, canals, dams, tunnels, subways and other gigantic structures, as well as bridge construction and tunneling in the USSR. It consists of nine chapters each dedicated to one kind of structure. Last chapter by professor P.A. Velikhov was dedicated to bridge and tunnel construction in USSR. The information is general but provides many names of people involved in bridge engineering of the time. It also interesting to see a pretty poor state of the infrastructure on the brink of the first pyatiletka (five-year plan), especially in comparison with described in the book infrastructures of other countries. To show materials which may be helpful for engineers was one of intentions of this publication by the editor Evgeny Bliznyak (1881-1958), Russian and Soviet professor, hydrologist and hydro technician, head of Volga-Don Canal project and construction. He was also a compiler of GOELRO plan. Pavel Apollonovich Velikhov (1875-1930), Russian and Soviet scientist in the field of structural mechanics and bridge construction, professor. He was executed in 1930 during the Stalinist repression. WorldCat locates one copy at Yale University. $1,500

BOOKVICA 50 Cover. No 24

25 [RODCHENKO’S COVER & EHRENBURG AS FILM CRITIC] Ehrenburg, I.G. Materializatsia fantastiki [i.e. Materialization of Fantasy]. Moscow; Leningrad: Kinopechat’, 1927. 30, [2] pp. 17x13 cm. In publisher’s photomontage wrappers. Very good. Spine is slightly rubbed, bleak damp stain on the lower part throughout the book.

First edition. One of 5000 copies. Constructivist photomontage wrappers designed by Alexander Rodchenko. Little has been written about journalist and writer Ilya Ehrenburg (1891–1967) as an art critic. Even less about him and the cinema. Although the points of intersection are many. For the avant- garde cinema of Russia and France, he was without exaggeration a connecting link, overcoming ideological isolation. This little-known book is the analytical summary of the existence of avant-garde trends

BOOKVICA 51 in Russian cinema of the 1920s. The circumstances of the emergence of the “Materialization of Fantasy” are similar to the reasons for Erenburg’s appeal to cinema in general — the need to earn money. The brochure was developed following the results of Ehrenburg’s lectures at the GAHN (State Academy of Art Sciences) movie office screenings and performances in the ARC. In June 1926, Ehrenburg gave lectures in Russia “New French Cinema”, which was illustrated with fragments of films: “Napoleon” by Abel Gans, “Vertigo” by Marcel L’Erbier, “Menilmontan” by Dmitry Kirsanov and others (highly unusual even in the experimental 1920s). On March 14, 1924, the writer signed an agreement with the studio ‘‘Kinosever’’ to write a script for the novel ‘‘The Love of Jeanne Her’’. The script has been waiting for its fate for a long time and was eventually banned by the General Repertoire Committee. Ehrenburg tried to arrange a script for domestic studios, in particular at Goskinprom, during a trip to Tiflis in late July 1926. UFA turned out to be quicker: in 1927, the novel was filmed by Pabst. The film aroused the writer’s famous discontent.

Covers. No 25

BOOKVICA 52 In the 1930s, cinema work began to attract him not only economically — the plot of the script that he wanted to propose to Eisenstein arose. However, the results of the decade were not analytical materials about the forefront. Philologist B.Ya.Frezinsky remarked: “If we talk about prose, the last internally free book of Ehrenburg was written in 1928.” The same one can say about this text as well. (Kinovedcheskie zapiski, #97, 2010) Worldcat locates copies at Getty, NYPL, Houghton Library, Yale, University of Rochester Library. $2,000

26 [RODCHENKO DESIGN] Arvatov, B.I. Ob agit- i proz-iskusstve [i.e. On Agitation and Production Art]. Moscow: Federatsia, 1930. 224 pp. 17x13 cm. In original card boards. Very good, fragile spine with half of it missing, some rubbing and small losses of the extremities of the covers, a couple of underlinings in the text (pencil), traces of damp stain near the spine on the front and back covers.

First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. Very rare. Constructivist cover designed by Alexander Rodchenko. This edition is doubly interesting for its content and its cover. The collection of articles written from 1921 to 1923 by Boris Arvatov (1896-1940), Soviet art critic and theoretician, one of the LEF ideologists, on the art, production, propaganda, language and theatre of post-Revolutionary Russia. Arvatov proclaimed the uselessness of panel painting, calling for all the art to be connected with the industry. He put forward the slogan of «industrial art», that is, the merger of art with the production of material values. This is a true declaration of the art for the proletariat, written by an art theoretician. Arvatov was an active member of Proletkult, the organization created during the Civil War and supported by Lunacharsky. This Rodchenko’s cover is one of the most exemplary Constructivist designs, his style is recognizable today still. He was a member of LEF which can still be traced here but already starting in 1930 he retreated from early revolutionary enthusiastic art and moved towards state propaganda art.

BOOKVICA 53 WorldCat locates paper copies in Getty Research Institute, The Frick Library, Yale University. $1,750

Covers. No 26

BOOKVICA 54 VIII ART OF THE BOOK COVER

27 [VALENTINA KHODASEVICH] Gorky, M. Makar Chudra. Petrograd: Petrogradsky sovet rababochikh i krasnoarmeiskikh deputatov, 1919. 19, [1] pp., [2] pl. ill. 22x15 cm. In publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Near fine. Tiny tear of the spine. Very rare.

“Makar Chudra” was the first printed work by Maksim Gorky, it was published in 1892 in the newspaper ‘Caucasus’ and signed by his pseudonym for the first time. This edition was illustrated by Valentina

No 27

BOOKVICA 55 Khodaseivich (1894-1970), his close friend. She was a Soviet painter, theater artist (and also Vladislav Khodasevich’s niece). She studied at Rerberg school, left for Paris but came back in 1912 to Moscow where worked at Tatlin’s studio, participated in exhibitions of Bubnovy valet, Mir iskusstva and other groups. She was familiar with Mayakovsky, Burliuk, Goncharova, Larionov, Radlov and others. In all she made designs for 150 theater productions and was one of the best Leningrad theater artists of her time. In 1919 Gorky asked her to make covers and illustrations for a series of his stories including “Makar Chudra”. No copies in U.S. libraries. $500

28 [SOVIET ANTI RELIGIOUS PROPAGANDA] Protiv Boga, popa i chertei: Instsenerovki, pesni, deklamatsiya i igry k komsomol’skomu rozhdestvu / pod red. Marii Rozen [i.e. Against God, Priest and Devils: Drmatizations, Songs, Recitations and Games for Komsomol Christmas / Ed. by Maria Rozen]. Moscow: Trud i kniga, 1925. 76, [1] pp. 23x15 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Near fine. Uncut. Tiny pieces from the top and bottom of spine lost.

First and only edition. Very rare. One of 20000 copies. Cover designed by A.M. Lopukhin. From the introduction we learn that dramatizations (performances) and songs placed in the collection are intended for Komsomol and youth anti-religious evenings. “They are humorous, show how priests, fortune-tellers and other rogues deceive believers with imperishable relics, holy tails and other rubbish”. “For purely Komsomol evenings, the material can be used entirely. And if there are believers, be careful not to «overdo it.” (“Remember the words of comrade Kalinin - don’t offend a religious belief”) Overall there are four dramas in prose and poems (one by Demian Bedny), three games, 2 recitations (one by D. Bedny), 20 songs (including songs by Bedny, Apostol Fyodor, Argus, female factory workers, et al.). A special introduction for songs section explains how to organize singalong, for example, to put among the audience performers-choristers, correct choice of songs, special singers to start and set the tune, etc. One of the games called “Priest and Komsomolets” starts by placing all participants on one end of the

BOOKVICA 56 playground, ‘priest’ in the middle and Komsomol man on the other end. ‘Believers’ are trying to run over to Komsomolets and ‘priest’ is trying to stop them. When everyone crossed over, the priest joins them. Exemplary anti-religious propaganda book with striking cover. WorldCat locates two copies at Princeton University and the British Library. $1,000

No 28

BOOKVICA 57 IX SCIENCE

29 [COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY IN RUSSIA] Wagner, V.A. Vozniknovenie i razvitie psikhicheskikh sposobnostei. Vypusk vos’moi: Psikhologiya pitaniya i ee evoliutsiya [i.e. The Emergence and Development of Psychic Abilities. The Eighth Issue: The Psychology of Nutrition and Its Evolution]. Leningrad: Nachatki znanii, 1928. 72 pp.: ill. 23x16 cm. In publisher’s wrappers. Wrappers detached from the block, text block is a bit loose, tears and losses of the spine, vertical crease throughout the book, signature on the front wrapper (ink) and marks on the rear wrapper (pencil), two faded bookshop’s ink stamps on the rear wrapper. Otherwise very good and internally clean.

First edition. Very rare. One of 4150 copies. Vladimir Wagner (1849-1934) was a Russian psychologist and naturalist known for his studies of comparative and evolutionary psychology. The main idea of his works of 1910s and 1920s was of comparative genetic method of studying psyche in zoopsychology. Wagner’s original concept about patterns of emergence and development of psychic abilities in evolutionary process of animal world presents an important contribution to study of comparative psychology as it gives a complex vision of psychic displays at all stages of evolution. Today Wagner’s comparative method based on evolutionary theory is still of a current value. His studies constituted zoopsychology as an independent scientific branch of psychology. In 1924, Wagner began to produce works united by a common theme: “The Emergence and Development of Psychic Abilities”. Total number of such issues was 9, the last released in 1929. These are eighth issue dedicated to evolution of psychology of nutrition of animals and humans. In his work he described his research and conclusions of mechanisms of looking for food, collecting it and migration in correlation with psychology. Text is accompanied by 39 illustrations and photographs. The psychic manifestations of animals and men were considered

BOOKVICA 58 Cover. No 29

Photographs, illustrations. No 29

BOOKVICA 59 by Wagner as a system whose constituent parts (instinct, emotions, mind) mutually penetrate each other and condition each other’s evolution. He showed that at the same time they are different abilities, which were differentiated from one process - a reflex. This provision was later developed by Ladygina-Kots (see our winter catalogue 2017). Wagner considered the development of mental abilities in the evolution process, depending on the type of nervous system in invertebrates and vertebrates. He showed that psychic abilities are a factor in the transformation of organisms. Wagner was a darwinist, and he carried out his darwinism through his studies. In 1896 he defended his PhD dissertation in which he for the first time in Russian zoology raised a serious question of studying animal’s psyche, and so became one of the founders of Russian zoopsychology or comparative psychology. He systematized its theoretical problems, gave a clear definition of the field of practical application which led to emergence of Russian zoopsychology. He introduced an objective biological method, based on three methods, which made it possible to exclude subjectivism from research: determining the type of given instinct and its vibrations, phylogenetic and ontogenetic methods. In the history of Russian comparative psychology Wagner’s method represents the first experience of combining various data to determine the psychological nature of the activity of animals at different stages of evolution. Later this method was used by Ladygina-Kots, Vygotsky, Voitonis, Fabry, et al. Wagner’s studies of the instinctive activity of invertebrate animals were highly appreciated both by foreign researchers and by Russian psychologists. In 1929 Wagner published his work «Psychological Types and Collective Psychology» which was banned and put away to closed archive (‘spetskhran’). After his death, the originality of his ideas in the study of instincts led to unjust accusations of idealism and vitalism and distortion of his conclusions. In Soviet times Pavlov’s studies became canonical, ‘the only right’, and everything different from it was never a subject of a wide research. Despite the fact that modern science does not consider instinct as a separate psychic ability, the data collected by Wagner - on the instinctive behavior of animals - are of undoubted interest. Not found in Worldcat. $1,000

BOOKVICA 60 30 [TSIOLKOVSKY DEFENDING HIS IDEAS] Tsiolkovsky, K.E. Zashchita aeronata [i.e. The Defense of the Aeronat]. Kaluga: Izdaniye avtora; E.T. Archangelskaya, 1911. 12 pp.: ill., photos. Original illustrated wrappers. Fine.

Very rare pre-revolutionary brochure in mint condition. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935) is a man whose ideas made the space exploration possible. In the 1910s he has already proven that it’s not impossible to send some kind of operated apparatus into space, also he calculated the speed and conditions of such travel. His ideas were too ahead of their time and he met a little support. He was producing different projects of aerostats, aeronats and dirigibles trying to find the one that would fit his calculations. He had to publish the project using his own money in his native town of Kaluga and send brochures out to scientific societies and individual scientists. This brochure is one of the early projects of Tsiolkovsky. In this brochure Tsiolkovsky defended his ideas. He gave concrete examples of how his works didn’t meet public’s approval but 2-3 years later different physicists were proving him right. He continued

Cover. No 30

BOOKVICA 61 to promote his version of aeronat made of metal. In this book he provided specific technical and engineering characteristics of his space vehicle. Worldcat locates no copies. $2,900

31 [MENDELEEV’S FAMILY CHRONICLE] Semeinaia khronika v pis’makh materi, otsa, brata, sestior, diadi D.I. Mendeleeva. Vospominania o Mendeleeve ego plemianitsy N.I. Gubkinoi [i.e. The Family Chronicle in Letters of Mother, Father, Brother, Sisters and Unсle of Dmitry Mendeleev. The Memoirs of His Niece N.I. Gubkina]. St. Petersburg: 1st Mendeleev congress, 1908. [2], 239 pp.: ill., 8 port. and 5 ill. on separate leaves. 23x15.5 cm. Original publisher’s wrappers. Very good. The frontispiece is detached from the text block, some minor tears to the wrapper.

First edition. Rare. One of the first books about Dmitry Mendeleev’s life (1834-1907). The memoirs of the relatives are printed for the first time as well as the letters. The second part of the book includes the memoirs by N.I. Gubkina (Kapustina) telling about the time she was spending with Mendeleev as a child since 1860s, also they were very close afterwards. It’s the first attempt of a Mendeleev’s biography as she goes through the major events of his life. The photos of Mendeleev are supplied from the family archive. The book was printed by the distribution committee of the first Mendeleev congress which took place in Autumn of 1907 in St. Petersburg with more than 1000 participants and became the biggest conference on chemistry of the time. It’s been held through the Soviet and modern times with the latest XX congress being held in September of 2016. $900

BOOKVICA 62 No 31

BOOKVICA 63 X MIKHAIL BULGAKOV

32 [FIRST BOOK BY BULGAKOV] Bulgakov, M. Dyavoliada. Rasskazy [i.e. Devildom. Short Stories]. Moscow: Nedra, 1925. 160 pp. 23x15 cm. In publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Wrappers carefully restored, previous owner’s signature on the front wrapper and t.p. (red pencil), restoration of a several lower margins of pages, occasional brown spots. Otherwise good.

One of 5000 copies. Very rare. First edition of the first book by Mikhail Bulgakov and the only book printed in his lifetime in the Soviet Union. Apart from Devildom, the collection consists of ‘The Fatal Eggs’ , ‘#13. The house of Elpit Pabkomunna’, ‘Chinese story’ and ‘Chichikov’s adventures’ (the satire on Gogol’s Dead Souls, where the characters from the original poem are placed in the early Soviet reality). On August 31, 1923, Bulgakov reported in a letter to his friend, writer Yury Slezkin: “I finished the Devildom, but it is unlikely that it will pass anywhere. Lezhnev (editor of the magazine ‘Rossiya’) refused to take it”. The Devildom was accepted for publication by the Nedra publishing house, headed by Nikolai Angarsky, an old Bolshevik distinguished by a good literary taste of the 19th century Russian classics. The almanac «Nedra» with the «Devilidom» was published on February 25, 1924. The reception was cold. The only noticeable response to the «Devilish» was the opinion of the famous writer Yevgeny Zamyatin (1884-1937), who later became a Bulgakov friend. He noted: «The only modern fossil in the Nedra (i.e. subsoil) is Bulgakov’s Devildom. The author undoubtedly has a true instinct in choosing a compositional setting: fiction, rooted in life, fast as in a movie, changing pictures is one of those (few) formal frameworks in which we can put our yesterday... The absolute value of this Bulgakov’s thing - very much kind of thoughtless - is small, but from the author, apparently, you can expect good work. « Later, when Bulgakov was already known as the author of the play «Days of the Turbins,» unfriendly critics drew attention to the «Devilish» and called for Bulgakov’s book to be banned. Indeed it was

BOOKVICA 64 banned and it was also confiscated (Bulgakov, M.A. Sobranie Sochineniy. vol2. M., 1989. p. 663). In 1929 Glavpolitprosvet (the main censorship organ of Soviet Russia) included this book as well as Bulgakov’s works printed by emigrant publishing houses in the list of banned books. Blum. Zapreshchennie knigi russkih literatorov. [i.e. Banned books by russian authors] 1917-1991. #95. $2,000

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33 [FIRST BULGAKOV’S FATAL EGGS] Bulgakov, M.A. Rokovye yaitsa, povest’ [i.e. The Fatal Eggs, A Tale] // Literaturno-khudozhestvennye sborniki Nedra. Kinga shestaya [i.e. Literary and Art Collections. Book Six]. Moscow: Nedra, 1925. Pp. 79-148. 23,5x15 cm. In publisher’s wrappers. Rubbed wrappers with small tears, a copy is

BOOKVICA 65 a bit loose and some pages are detached, couple of pages with a small tear of the margin (text not touched). Otherwise very good.

One of 5000 copies. Very rare. First publication of “The Fatal Eggs” by Mikhail Bulgakov. The tale was a response to the cultural and socio- historical situation in Soviet Russia in the first half of the 1920s. One of the sources of the fable was the novel by the English writer H.G. Wells (1866-1946) «Food of the Gods» (1904), which deals with the wonderful food that accelerates the growth of living organisms and the development of intellectual abilities of giant people. In Bulgakov’s story, the giants are not intellectually advanced human individuals, but especially aggressive reptiles. Another Wells novel, “The War of the Worlds” (1898), was also reflected, where the Martians who conquered the Earth suddenly perish from earthly microbes (in “The Fatal Eggs” the reptiles that have risen to Moscow fall prey to the fantastic August frosts). There are more exotic sources. So, the poet Maximilian Voloshin sent Bulgakov a clipping from a Feodosia newspaper of 1921, which said ‘‘about the appearance of a huge reptile in the area of Kara-Dag​​ mountain Red Army Company’’. On December 27, 1924 Bulgakov read the story at a meeting of writers at the cooperative publishing house «Nikitinsky Subbotniki». On January 6, 1925, the Berlin newspaper «Days» under the heading «Russian Literary News» responded to this event: «The young writer Bulgakov recently read the adventurous novel Fatal Eggs. Although it is literally insignificant, it is worth getting acquainted with its plot”. Bulgakov himself in his diary entry on the night of December 28, 1924 described his impressions from reading Fatal Eggs: «When I went there, a childish desire to excel and shine, and from there to a complex feeling. What is it? Feuilleton? Or insolence? Or maybe serious? Then not baked. In any case, 30 people were sitting there and not one of them is not only a writer, but he doesn’t even understand what Russian literature is. I am afraid that they might slandered me for all these feats to places not so distant. Fortunately for the writer, the censorship saw in a campaign of reptiles only a parody of the intervention of 14 states against Soviet Russia in the years of the Civil war (foreign bastards, once hatched from foreign eggs). The story was a fruitful artistic experiment that showed the satirical talent of the writer. Already during the life of the author, it received a wide public response. According to a philologist Sokolov, the

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prototypes of Professor Persikov could have been the Soviet biologist Alexander Gurvich, who discovered mitogenetic radiation, and Vladimir Lenin. Worldcat locates this paper issue at Stanford University, NYPL, Columbia University, Yale, Washington Univ. in St. Louis, Indiana University. $1,500

34 [BANNED BULGAKOV IN THE HEART OF SOVIET ASIA] Zvezda Vostoka : Organ Soiuza Pisatelei Vostoka [i.e. Star of the East: Organ of the Eastern Writers Union] #3, 1967. Tashkent: Ob’edinennoe izd-vo «Kzyl. Uzbekistan,» «Pravada Vostoka» i «Uzbekistoni surkh.”, 1967. 240 pp.: ill. 26x17 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Slightly rubbed, small fragments of spine lost, otherwise very good.

First and only edition. This is the rare issue of the oldest magazine in Central Asia which draws our attention to the abundance of writers whose publication faced censorship difficulties at that time: Bulgakov, Mandelstam, Platonov, Babel, et al. It was considered the charity edition

BOOKVICA 67 tied with 1966 Tashkent earthquake and its aftermath. The issue itself became a myth gathering gossip about its content and circumstances of publishing. “When it had appeared in Moscow, it seemed like a bombshell… It was full of banned materials. Firstly, there were fragments from Mikhail Bulgakov’s ‘Notes on the Cuffs’” which his widow sent to the magazine. An autobiographical work was partly published during his lifetime only once - in the almanac “Revival” (1923) - and appeared again in this magazine. For now, the only third of the original text is preserved by pieces but this work confirms: in 1921 Bulgakov strived to emigrate. Apart from it, the issue gave the chance to Babel’s novel “Kolyvushka” and Platonov’s play “Father’s Voice”. It included the poems by repressed Mandelstam and unfavorable Voznesensky, the diary and drawings by the avant-garde artist Kliment Red’ko who was excluded from the Union of Artists. Two works dedicated to the Georgian poet Tabidze and the Jewish theatre director Mikhoels, repressed in the Stalinist period. The poems of contemporary authors like Okudzhava, Akhmadulina, Evtushenko tried to dilute the dangerous collection. “Writers of Russia - to the Victims of Tashkent Earthquake” was the best slogan which reflected the international nature of provided help.

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BOOKVICA 68 But what it was: did the Soviet writers lend a hand to Tashkent or did Tashkent magazine help the Soviet writers? Worldcat shows 5 copies located at University of Chicago, University of Kentucky, Cornell University, University of California. Los Angeles and UC Berkeley Libraries. $1,800

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BOOKVICA 69 XI MISCELLANEOUS

35 [LAUNCH OF AN EARLY JUVENILE SAMIZDAT] 1. Nasha mysl’: Izdanie uchashchikhsia 17 sovetskoi trudovoi shkoly II stupeni Sok. Raion [i.e. Our Thought : Edition of the Students of the 17th Soviet Labor School of the II Stage of Sok. District]. [1920]. 8 handwritten leaves with mounted illustrations. 38x23 cm. In original oversized wrappers with mounted illustration. Tears of the edges, soiling, otherwise very good. 2. Iunaia mysl’ : Izdanie uchashchikhsia 17 sovetskoi trudovoi shkoly II stupeni S.O.N.O. [i.e. Youth Thought : Edition of the Students of the 17th Soviet Labor School of the II Stage of S.O.N.O.] #1 1921, #3 1922. 19 typewritten leaves with mounted illustrations; 14 typewritten leaves with mounted and drawn illustrations. In original handmade illustrated covers. #1: soiled, stain on the outer margin throughout the copy, otherwise very good. #3: good, soiled, some small fragments of cover and the last blank page lost.

This is three issues of samizdat magazine, published in the earliest years of the Soviet labor school. All issues have a unique design. Striking cover of #1 for 1920 shows the worker personified the revolution and opportunities of the new country. The issue #3 is opened by an attractive constructivist composition depicting the march. Among the 1920s experiments in the education system, the united labor school occupied the special place. It was 7-9 grade school harmonically combined the theoretical, moral studies and work. The central issue of the pedagogy was how to introduce a young person into the socialist industrial culture. It was not possible to make the complete experiment in every school, but the pre-revolutionary, traditional educational system was rejected throughout the country: to follow not a textbook, but reality, to stimulate the teamwork. The second stage school was for the youth - this magazine was probably composed by 13-17-year-old authors. The issues contain the materials given by students and,

BOOKVICA 70 according to the foreword, some of them were difficult to obtain. The revolutionary story is next to the Easter story, there are poems, short eye-witness accounts and jokes - and this is extremely unexpected - the #1 for 1921 laughs at the сriminal procedure and the Red Army soldiers (full-page caricature). The black-and-white and colored illustrations were made by several chiefly anonymous artists (names of contributors are recorded in only #1 for 1920), the most drawings were made earlier and mounted on the pages just for decoration. It is not known how many issues were made but possibly only these three. $650

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BOOKVICA 72 36 [FUISM] “A”. [Collection of poems] / B. Pereleshin, A. Rakitnikov, I. Sokolov. R.S.F.S.R., 0,21 XX veka [i.e. RSFSR, 21 Hundredth of the 20th Century]. [Moscow, 1921]. 14, [2] pp. 17,5x11 cm (unfolded two leaves, each leaf 34,5x22,2 cm). Uncut and unbound as issued. Near fine. Previous owner’s ink stamp on p. 3, erased ink stamp and pen mark on the last page.

First edition. Very rare. This is a collection of poems by representatives of avant-garde literary movement close to expressionism called fuism. Boris Pereleshin (18?-1938), Alexander Rakitnikov, Ippolit Sokolov (1902-1974) were in a small group of fuists which existed only for a couple of years from 1921 to 1923. Avant-garde of the 1920s went through many transformations and survived by efforts of many isolated art groups. Fuists (from the french for crazy, ‘fou’) whose poetry in Igor Vasil’ev’s words “displayed elements similar to Surrealism… their fragmented language and confused articulation appeared as a pre-programmed method of reaching for new horizons of the poetic utterance”. Fuists made up a small, poorly organized group that set itself the task of enriching “the exhausted element of yesterday’s words and tomorrow’s words” with exotic images and rhythms: “And not to, but from exhausted Asian horizons with incinerated eyelashes and drunk lips.” The most consistent of them was Boris Pereleshin, the first book with the participation of which, as well as Tikhomirov and Nesmelova, “The Fourth Year”, appeared in 1921 in Tomsk and was hardly noticed by critics or readers with a circulation of 550 copies. The further apprenticeship of B. Pereleshin among the Imaginists and poets of the “Centrifuge” was reflected in verses from the Moscow collection “A” (1921), in which A. Rakitnikov and I.Sokolov also participated. The thickening of physiological motifs (“from the abdomen an arrow through the body draws”, “rib barricade”, “intestinal swamp”) in Pereleshin approaches the “Killing of the flesh” by A. Rakitnikov and the “Apocalyptic Monster” by I. Sokolov. Sokolov contributed apocalyptic and macabre imagery. There is urbanism and the familiar desire to shock in these poems but there is also an appearance of Lenin, radio and “the victory of new forces”. Sokolov did not continue his association with fuists. One of the three original fuists, Boris Pereleshin, remained the fuist till the end and was later joined

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by Nikolai Lepok and Boris Nesmelov and they together published two more books. This seeming climax was actually the end of fuism. Under the conditions of coexistence of dozens of poetic groups, the Fuists approached the Expressionists and Niches, engaging in controversy with the “departing ships of symbolism,” “Opozaz, or the brain drought society.” In the preface to the collection «Dialectics today» Boris Pereleshin wrote that the NEP «ate poets»: «Not a bit on Russian pop sites, crushed by / hooves of various imagistists. / Stone desert of achievement.» The fuists were a transitional group leading to centrifugist expressionism. (California Slavic Studies, Vol.6, 1971) Rozanov. #4682, Turchinsky. P.420. WorldCat locates original paper copies at NYPL, Getty Research Institute, Harvard, Yale, University of California. $600

BOOKVICA 74 37 [PHILOSOPHY OF DOSTOEVSKY AND FYODOROV] [Gorsky, A.K.] Gornostaev, A.K. Rai na zemle: K ideologii tvorchestva F.M. Dostoevskogo. F.M. Dostoevsky i N.F. Fyodorov [i.e. Paradise on Earth. Towards an Ideology of the Creativity of F.M. Dostoevsky. F.M. Dostoevsky and N.F. Fyodorov]. [Harbin], 1929. [4], 88 pp. 26x18,5 cm. In publisher’s wrappers. The spine is rebacked with paper, some bleak stains on the front wrapper and a tiny tear, ink stamp on the t.p. (Russian Student Christian Group), staples with rust. Otherwise a very good copy.

First edition. Very rare provincial edition. This pamphlet was written by Russian philosopher and writer Alexander Gorsky (1886-1943; worked under aliases like Gornostaev). After finishing Moscow Theological Academy and becoming close with such philosophers like P.A. Florensky and Lev Shestov Gorsky discovered Nikolay Fyodorov’s (1829-1903) teachings which influenced him a lot, determined his attitude to the tasks of literary art, and in the end he refused to get ordained. Gorsky dedicated a lot of his works to Fyodorov and his philosophy, his philosophical and life contacts with such people influenced by him like Tolstoy, Soloviev and, in this edition, Dostoevsky. Indeed, their connection is one of the most interesting since historians of literature discovered Dostoevsky writing this about Fyodorov in his letter in 1878: “...essentially completely agree with these thoughts. I read them as if for my own”. For Dostoevsky the acquaintance with Fyodorov’s ideas became an important spiritual and creative milestone. It was widely reflected in the novel “The Karamazov

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BOOKVICA 75 Brothers”, both in the drafts and in the final text. For Fyodorov, the letter of Dostoevsky was the impetus for the systematic presentation of his ideas, for the creation of the main work - «The question of brotherhood or kinship, the causes of non-brotherly, unrelated, that is, non-peaceful, state of the world and the means to restore kinship.» It can be said that Fyodorov, as a thinker, entered culture with the unwitting submission of Dostoevsky, who stimulated him with his questions to create a written summary of the doctrine of the resurrection. From Nikolay Berdiyaev’s review in 1929: “A.N. Gornostaev appears evidently to be a chief representative of the Fyodorov movement. In a recently appeared booklet, «Paradise on Earth», he attempts to establish points of affinity between Dostoevsky and N. Fyodorov. He wants to show, that in Dostoevsky there was already the fundamental idea of N. Fyodorov, though insufficiently perceived. His argument is bound up with the death of Ilyusha and makes a connection with the boys in the «Brothers Karamazov» and with Alyosha going off for action in the world after his experiencing a birth into new life. According to Gornostaev, the time at present is «dostoino», i.e. «propitious». Gornostaev attempts to formulate a fundamental theme of Russian literature and Russian religious thought: «The basic, the perhaps singular theme of Russian religious thought -- is this, from whence has all originated and towards what will it have returned, this is the central axis point, around which has grown the impetus of motion -- it is an ideational task, determining for itself the whole course of its development -- wherein perhaps all of four words tend to signify it: «GOD’S KINGDOM ON EARTH.» (p. 17) or otherwise «Paradise on Earth». … Paradise is a blessing and a gift from God. The path however of human creativity is tragic, it always presupposes a cross and suffering. A. Gornostaev shrinks down the Russian idea. His booklet on Dostoevsky and N. Fedorov is interesting and thought provoking, it is in line also to certain of the Russian currents and trends, but it is impossible to accept on faith the religious actions, to which it appeals. It remains enormously unclear, how to initiate the religious action, what it is that can be acknowledged as the start of the action, if from such action be disregarded the ideological preaching. The thoughts of A. Gornostaev merit a sense of sympathy, as a Russian searching for the realisation of Christianity within life, as a creative movement within Orthodoxy. The truth of Fedorov and Fedorovism consists first of all in this, that they do not limit Christianity to the deed of a personal other-world salvation,

BOOKVICA 76 that they see within Christianity a deed both social and cosmic. And this is a Russian truth”. Original paper copies located at University of North Carolina, Princeton University and others. (A photocopy was made in Ann Arbor, it’s not always stated whether the library holds an original or photocopy). $650

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