Search Results: Authors starting with L from Bookvica

Leningrad: Gos. izd, 1924. 38, [1] pp. In original publisher's wrappers. Upper inner corner of front cover lost, some soiling, tear of outer edge throughout copy, otherwise very good. Scarce. First edition. Text of the speech delivered by the prominent Soviet politician Lev Kamenev (1883-1936) at a party gathering in Leningrad (1924) and dedicated to the Anglo-Soviet treaty of 1924. During Vladimir Lenin's final illness in 1923 - 1924, Lev Kamenev served the role of the acting leader of the USSR, forming a triumvirate with Grigory Zinoviev and Joseph Stalin. The latter subsequently turned against his former allies and ousted Kamenev from the Soviet leadership. Lev was arrested in 1935 and made a chief defendant in the 1936 Trial of the Sixteen (a series of show trials against Trotskysts), which marked the start of the Great Purge. Kamenev was found guilty during the show trial and executed in August 1936.After his death, the Soviet authorities launched a massive anti-campaign against the politician:… Read More

Kharkiv: ONTI, 1935. 60 pp. 18x13 cm. 1 of 3000 copies. Original publisher's wrappers. Front wrapper is slightly rubbed. Otherwise a near fine copy, partly uncut. Extremely rare. The first printed book by Nobel laureate Lev Davydovich Landau (1908-1968) best known for his contributions in the field of condensed matter physics. When he was 24 years old he was appointed as a head of the theoretic department of Kharkiv Physico-Technic University where he started to give seminars. This book was published during Landau's years in Kharkiv. It was three years later when Landau was caught by KGB handling anti-Soviet brochures that were labeling Stalin as fascist. Pyotr Kapitsa managed to save young talented physicist from inevitable imprisonment - that was almost impossible in the late 1930s. Despite all that Lev Landau continued his work on the different states of the matter to come to revolutionary results in his research of liquid helium in 1940s. No copies found outside of Russia.

Moscow: Gostekhizdat, 1955. 140 pp. 20,5x13,5 cm. In original cloth with colored lettering. Shelf-wearing, otherwise very good. First and only edition. One of 10,000 copies. Scarce. The book contains lectures on the main concepts of nuclear theory by Nobel laureate, Lev Landau and his former student Yakov Smorodinsky. In 1954, the lectures were delivered to experimental physicists by Landau. Born into a Baku-based Jewish family, Lev Landau (1908-1968) enrolled in the Baku University but transferred to Leningrad University in 1924. Two years later Landau published his debut works on theoretical physics. In 1929-1931, the People's Commissariat for Education sent him abroad to continue his education in European universities. During this trip, he was greatly influenced by Niels Bohr. In 1932-1937, Landau headed the Department of Theoretical Physics at the National Scientific Center Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology, and he lectured at the University of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv Polytechnic… Read More

St. Petersburg: tip. Kukol'-Yasnopol'skogo, 1867. [2], 474, IV pp., 1 port. 8vo. Contemporary quarter-leather binding with gilt-lettering and decoration on the spine, decorations on boards in blind. Very good. Rubbed, few spots and owner's ink stamp on the title-page.  First edition. The book is translated from German the year after original publication. The first book about Linkoln in Russian came out in time of interesting parallels between America and Russia in 1860s. Avraam Linkoln was more influencial in Russian life than it seemed at first. Although they were very different Russia and USA maintained friendly relations during difficult for America 1860s. Lincoln personally asked Russian chancellor A. Gorchakov for help and Gorchakov sent him these words: "Your country was just born when Russians stand by your bedside. We don't need neither Northern nor Southern states. We'll be satisfied only with United Stated of America". Lincoln always said Russian and America were congenial. In 1863-1864… Read More

Moscow: Vsesoiuznoe kooperativnoe ob'edinennoe izdatel'stvo, 1944. 64 pp.: ill., 3 ills. 21,5x14,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Spine repaired, tiny tears along it, corners of covers and some pages repaired, foxing, otherwise very good. First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. This manual on various-material Christmas tree decorations was published for producers who created decorations in the mass scale. It is based on experiments held at laboratories of the All-Union Research and Experimental Toy Institute of the People's Commissariat for Education. The book is divided into three sections which compilers wrote separately: decorations of glass (by Lapkovskii), of cotton wool (by Oveshnikova) and of cardboard and paper (by Danilevskii). First of all, any materials require certain work conditions. The author starts with how to organize and equip a glass blowing studio and an auxiliary premises. This text is supplemented with small drawings of the equipment needed. Then, he elaborates on… Read More

Image: 12,5x9,5 cm. Frame: 21x17,5 cm. In a contemporary frame. Mint. Provenance: lot 114 in Etude Couturier Nicolay sale of Guillaume Apollinaire collection, 25th of June, 1986. This portrait was created on the rear side of an invitation to a debut exhibition of Gallerie Paul Guillaume - a solo show of Mikhail Larionov and Natalia Goncharova. Paul Guillaume (1891-1934) was one of the 20th century greatest art dealers. He was a dealer of Chaïm Soutine, Amedeo Modigliani, Pablo Picasso, and others. Also, he was a pioneer of African art exhibitions and thus met with Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918). Paul Guillaume opened his first gallery in February 1914 at 6, rue de Miromesnil. Larionov traveled to Paris earlier. In 1906, Diaghilev organized a large retrospective exhibition of Russian art at the Grand Palais, included the artist's paintings in the exhibition and invited him himself, albeit as a worker, to mount M. Vrubel's panels. A joint visit of Larionov and Goncharova to Paris took place in… Read More

[Moscow]: Tea-kino-pechat', 1928. 85, [3] pp.: ill. 17.2x13 cm. In original publisher's photo-montage wrappers. Loss of the pieces of the spine. Otherwise in a very good condition. Edited by E. Ugarova. Foreword by Pistrak. Scarce. First edition. 1 of 5,000 copies. Photo-montage wrappers by one of the leading representatives of the Constructivist branch of Russian avant-garde Varvara Stepanova (1894-1958). She designed Cubo-Futurist work for several artists' books, and studied under Jean Metzinger at Académie de La Palette, an art academy where the painters André Dunoyer de Segonzac and Henri Le Fauconnier also taught. In the years following the revolution, Stepanova involved herself in poetry, philosophy, painting, graphic art, stage scenery construction, and textile and clothing designs. Together with her husband, Alexander Rodchenko (1891-1956), Varvara rejected aesthetic values in favour of revolutionary ones and went down in history as one of the most prominent figures in Russian… Read More

Moscow: Gos. izdat. khudozhestvennoi literatury, 1930. 159, [5] pp., 6 ills. 19x13 cm. In original photomontage wrappers. Rubbed, with small tears of spine and oversized covers, soiling of back cover, otherwise very good and clean internally. Third edition, occasionally revised. Front and back covers feature positive and negative images of the same objects. The edition was published with constructivist internal design. Popular technical manual about possible mistakes of amateur photographers in taking pictures and film processing. Examples of failed pictures are printed on six separate leaves at the end. The book was reprinted from 1928-1934 with small changes. Its author, Iulii Laubert (1873-?) was a skilled photographer, author of numerous works on the theory and practice of photography. Worldcat doesn't track this edition.

Leningrad: Krasnaya gazeta, 1929. 100 pp.: ill. 17х13 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Restoration of the spine, previous owner's ink stamp on the title page, margin of p.65 is cut off (the text is not affected). Cover design by Georgy Fitingof (1905-1975), Soviet artist and illustrator well known for his work in children's and adventure literature. He worked many times with famous Russian magazine Vokrug sveta [i.e. Around the World]. This edition brings together some of the facts about contemporary United States of America. USA is often referred as the Empire of the Dollar in the book. The general tone of the book is unapproving, especially concerning worker's class and USA-USSR relationship. In 1920s the images of the United States produced in the Soviet Union often strongly criticized the American social and economic system, yet underlying these hostilities was an admiration for American industrial achievement and an aspiration to model Soviet advancements on, and then surpass, those of… Read More

Moscow: Gosizdat, 1927. 192 pp. 17x13 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. In very good condition, tear of upper edge of three last leaves, minor defects of spine. Signed by author to Vladimir Nemeshaev who was a head of the Copyright Office and member of the Moscow Society of Dramatists and Composers. First and only edition. One of 15 000 copies. Extremely rare. An interesting collection gathering five 1920s peasant-oriented plays. The edition was devoted to 50th anniversary of literary activity of Ivan Lebedev whose works reflected the spirit of peasantry. Worldcat doesn't track this edition.

Leningrad: Priboi, 1928. 142 pp.: ill.+[2] pp. of ads. 20x14 cm. In original illustrated wrappers by unknown artist. Rubbed, pale water stains and some foxing, tears of spine with some fragments lost, some pencil notes, bookplate of private Jewish library on rear side of front cover, otherwise good. One of 3000 copies. Russian edition of the first part of Bernard Lecache's trilogy on the suffering of the Jews of Russia and Ukraine during the Civil War - 'Au pays des pogroms' [In the Land of Pogroms]. The first volume, 'Quand Israel meurt' (1927) was translated into Russian by N.I. Iavne. The foreword is written by Iu. Larin. In 1926, the Jewish anarchist Sholom Schwartzbard killed Ukrainian military leader Symon Petliura, accused of starting pogroms earlier. Lecache went to Ukraine as a journalist investigating pogroms. It influenced him to start the trilogy published in 1927-1933. At one time Bernard Lecache (1895-1968) was expelled from the French Communist Party but he was still close to them and… Read More

Kharkiv: Pomoshch', 1922. P. 10-12. 22x26 cm. In very good condition, some tears of the spine and edges, few stains, the outer corners of the front cover were lost. Extremely rare. In Russian. The issue presents a less-known article criticizing dadaism in a short period of its existence in the USSR. In the early 1920s, a short-lived group Nichevoki [Nothingists] existed and could be considered an aftersound of the European Dada movement. This denouncing text was written by Oleksandr Leites (1901-1976), a Ukrainian literary critic who was close with Khlebnikov and Mayakovsky. Later he published memoirs 'Khlebnikov - What He Was Like' (Novyi mir, #1 for 1973) where he characterized sophisticated ideas of this futurist artist. Leites claimed: "There are a lot of symptoms of falling and decaying culture. Dadaism is one of such examples. That's not our zaum, not our budetlyanstvo repainted in the European way. Our budetlyane are principled, they argue and look for something while the main principle of… Read More

[2nd revised edition]. Geneva: Tipografija "Soyuza Rasskih socialdemokratov" for Izdanie "Soyuza bor'by za osvobozhdenie rabochego klassa", 1897. 48 pp. 15x11 cm. Issued without title page (similar to the Russian State Library copy). Publisher's wrappers. Good. Minor paper loss along the edges of the paper cover. Numerical stamps on the cover, first page, price mark in ink on the back cover. Front cover featuring marxist motto from the 1848 Communist Manifesto - Rabochie vseh stran, soedinjajtes'! [Workers of the World Unite!]. A typo in the publisher's imprint - erroneously marked as Soyuz Rasskih socialdemokratov edition instead of Soyuz Russkih socialdemokratov edition on the front cover. The present brochure is the 2nd separate edition of the text. First one was illegally printed under a similar title Ob'yasnenie zakona o shtrafah vzimaemyh s rabochih na fabrikah i zavodah in St. Petersburg at a Lakhta underground printing house with an astonishing circulation for a 19th century underground… Read More

L'vyv: Nakladom vydavnytstva "Chervona Kalyna, 1929. [24], 160 pp., ill., numerous ads. 23 x 15.5 cm. Both calendar and almanac parts within the book have a title page. Original publisher's illustrated wrappers. In Ukrainian. Overall good condition, Wear to the spine and both covers. Front cover partially detached. Numbers "1930" with pen on the spine, stamp "Printed in Galicia" on the front cover. Insides clean. Minor tear to p. 39-40. Cover illustration by Edvard Kozak (1902-1992), an Ukrainian artist most known as a children's books illustrator and a caricaturist. The publisher Chervona Kalyna, active from 1921 to 1939, was created by a joint effort of two military groups: Lehion Ukrayins'kykh Sichovykh Stril'tsiv [Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen] and Ukrayins'ka Halyts'ka Armiya [Ukrainian Army of Galicia]. "Chervona Kalyna" itself stands for the berry red viburnum, a cossack symbol known to any Ukrainian. Chervona Kalyna was led by Galician military officials with Stepan Shukhevych serving as… Read More

Moscow: Kniga, 1974. 175 pp.: ill., 1 port. 22x13 cm. In original publisher's cloth. The first bibliography of Mark Twain's works in Russian. The book consists of two sections: translations into Russian and literature about Twain in Russian. Every section is divided by subjects, translations - by kind of editions and publications, critical literature - by nature of material. It includes more than 1500 entries. Levidova was a pioneer bibliographer who complied several books on Russian translations of Western authors.

Tbilisi: Progress, 1907. [12] pp. 26x18 cm. Lithographed illustrated wrappers by unknown Armenian artist as well as plates and illustrations in text. Near fine. Minor stains on the wrapper. Very rare. The first edition of this Armenian folktale. Stepan Lisiciani (1865-1947) who adapted it for this book was an important figure for Armenian culture. Working as a teacher he also dedicated a lot of his time to ethnography. He was the founder of the first Armenian gymnasium in Tbilisi, later he wrote the textbook Lusaber. It was used in schools to learn Armenian language till 1960s. In 1924 he moved to Erevan where he founded Armenian Geographical Society.

Berlin: Skify, 1922. [12 leaves including the wrappers]. 262x200 mm. The wrapper is restored: the front wrapper's margins are supplied, the right, left and top sides of the outer square are gone, but the bottom side remains along with El's monogram. No staples. The rear wrapper preserved with extra blank leaf added. The rest of the pages are good and clean, apart from being trimmed like the rest of the copy, with no restoration impact. Often copies survived don't have the front wrapper at all, which led to a number of online publications show the first page of the book as 'Vsem, vsem rebyatkam' [i.e. To all, to all children], which is a leaf right after the front wrapper. The book, that was constructed in Vitebsk in 1920 during Lissitzy's Unovis days, came to this world two years later in Berlin to transform the concept of book design for years to come. The mounting research dedicated to this publication and its revolutionary constructor makes it impossible to add much. Maybe this book could only… Read More

Bruxelles: Hayez, 1901. 132 pp., 9 plates. 23.5x16.1 cm. Contemporary owner's half-leather binding with gilt lettering on the spine. Near fine. Minor tear at the hinge of the spine. Ex Libris on the verso of the front board Gösta Mittag-Leffler (1846-1927), a Swedish mathematician and a member of the Nobel Prize Committee. Extremely rare first edition. THE FIRST SEPARATE EDITION OF LOBACHEVSKY'S MOST COMPREHENSIVE WORK ON NON-EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY IN FRENCH. One of the brightest minds of the Russian scientific world Nikolay Lobachevsky (1792-1856) primarily went down in history as the inventor of non-Euclidean geometry or Lobachevsky's geometry. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to demonstrate Euclid's fifth postulate ("For any given line and point not on the line, there is only one line through the point not intersecting the given line"), Lobachevsky's research culminated in the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry ("An infinity of parallels can be drawn through a given point that never intersects… Read More

Moscow: Khud. izd. akts. o-vo AKhR, 1930. 148 pp. 19x13 cm. Publisher's illustrated wrappers. Spine slightly rubbed. Otherwise near fine. First edition. One of 5000 copies. Scarce. Viktor Lobanov (1885-1970), art critic and writer. He often 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 on 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.

Moscow: Doloi negramotnost', 1927. 28, [4] pp. In original constructivist style wrappers. Front cover detached, minor defect of p.9 (not affected the text), previous owner's stamp on t.p., otherwise very good. First and only edition. One of 8070 copies. Very rare. A nice and early Soviet brochure on how to write by the library handwriting on the catalogue cards. Teaching the young librarian on courses, Lomkovskii created the tables of letter elements and connection between them, supporting examples with clear and define instructions. Interesting that three pre-revolutionary letters, used until the Russian orthography was reformed in 1917, were included in this manual as well - the author explained that by needs of the science libraries. He points out the standard sizes of letters, with exceptions and spaces. The curious page 23 reproduces the types of handwriting which could not be used on the cards: "handwriting of volunteers", "typographic, difficulty implemented", "decorative non-library", etc.… Read More