Search Results: Titles starting with B from Bookvica

Leningrad: Biomedgiz, 1935. 64 pp. 19x13 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Wrappers rubbed with small tears on the extremities, a front cover and few pages in the beginning with small closed tear near the spine (not affecting text). Otherwise a very good, internally clean copy. First and only edition. Rare. This book was intended for mothers of young children and workers of 'maternity protection institutions' (daycare, et al.). All recipes are divided into 2 sections: cooking food for infants up to 1 year and for children from 1 to 3 years old. Among recipes are vitamin juices, fall juices, vegetarian borshch with toasts, creme soup from pearl barley, Epstein's pudding, milk with lemon juice, gogol-mogol (eggnog), rutabaga, stewed rhubarb, creme soup from oatmeal, and other. The Soviet famine of 1932-33 went into decline in 1934 but one can still spot some unusual products in the recipes. The book is interesting not only because of them but also for the guidelines for parents in the… Read More

Grozny: Checheno-Ingushskoe knizhnoe izd-vo, 1988. 77, [3] pp., 8 ills., 2 loosely inserted maps (one folding). 19,5x14 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Very good, slightly rubbed spine. Late Soviet guide to popular routes through the Chechen-Ingush Republic. In particular, they were organized in the Nazranovsky District that was also called "Solnechnaia dolina" [Sunny Valley]. It was considered one of the most attractive destinations for Soviet tourists, including backpackers. The author gained the first impressions of the Armkhi valley in 1954, after backpacking along this 31-km river. Most materials were gathered in 1980-1984, during the North Osetian and Chechen-Ingush geological expedition. The author's companion was a female amateur photographer P. Loginova who took most pictures printed in this edition. They are placed on separate leaves and feature ancient mountain constructions that became well-known sights of the region. A folding map indicates the most popular route #102 from the… Read More

Moscow: Knigoizdatelstvo Skorpion, 1903. [2], 290 pp. 8vo. The copy is in exceptionally fine contemporary half-leather with marbled boards and endpapers and gilt lettering on the spine. Original front wrapper illustrated by Fidus (the famous German symbolist artist Hugo Hoppener) preserved. A fine copy. First edition. This is the sixth book of poetry by Russian symbolist poet Konstantin Balmont (1867-1942). The book was being written in 1901-1902. In March 1902 the first version of it has been read by the author to the members of G.G. Bakhman's literary circle. The book, notably its erotic section, "Enchanted Grotto", has been severely cut by censors. Decades later scholar V.N. Orlov was the first to have made an attempt to publish it in the original form as an academic edition.The censor Sokolov committed his report to the Saint Petersburg Publishing Department, writing: "Konstantin Balmont's book consists of 205 poems [...] From the censorship's point of view all of them are worthy of attention,… Read More

Khar'kov: Drukarnia Petra Kaluhina for Vydavnytstvo, 1906. 15 pp. 16 x 12.5 cm. Issued without title page. Publisher's covers. Good condition. Spot to the front cover. Minor tears along extremities including the spine, two 0.5 cm tears to the bottom of brochure w/o paper loss. Rust on staples. A collection of two articles by one of the Ukrainian independence movement leaders, Dmytro Doroshenko (1882 - 1951). Two articles included in the brochure are "How free Ukrainian Cossacks were turned into slaves" and "On autonomy". The first one is a historical essay telling the story of Ukrainian struggles for independence of the XVIIth and the XVIIIth century. The second one lists historical, territorial, cultural differences between Ukrainians and Moscouvites, concluding that Ukraine should be autonomous and shall be governed by a parliament. The importance of those short texts shall be understood if taken within the time context. 1905 saw the fall of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and almost… Read More

Leipzig: F.C.W. Vogel, 1864. [4], 1168, [1] pp. 8vo. Contemporary quarter-leather binding with a blind-stamped title on the spine and sprinkled edges. Covers rubbed, pre-revolutionary library label on front endpapers. Otherwise fine. The first edition of the major work on field surgery by one of the greatest military surgeons. Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov (1810-1881), the world-famous Russian surgeon, is considered a founder of contemporary surgery and topographical anatomy, the pioneer of the use of plaster bandages and etherization in field hospitals. Ivan Pavlov credited him with placing surgery on a scientific footing. The German edition predates the Russian. Pirogov's Grundzuge quickly became the standard reference work. The book describes the development of field hospitals and field surgery, scrutinising issues such as triaging and medevac, and the classification of traumas. It was based on his experiences in the Crimean War in 1853-1856 during which he introduced the mass use of ether in… Read More

Kiev: Kartofabrika VMF, 1968. [2] pp., 13 double-page charts. 50x33 cm. In original cardboards. Very good and clean internally. Covers rubbed and bumped, with water stains on them and endpapers, with small fragments of cover paper lost. The previous owner's corrections on some leaves. For inner circulation only. Copy #72. Сompiled by Ukrgiprorechtrans, edited by B. Kistanov. Three charts of the Kiev reservoir are 1:50 000 scale, nine charts showing parts of the Dnieper and Prypiat rivers are 1:25 000 scale. The general scheme of leave combination is 1:200 000 scale and contains a legend. The book shows the natural conditions of Prypiat and Dnieper rivers and the Kiev reservoir before construction and commission of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and its notorious catastrophe. The Pripyat river feeds into the Dnieper river, forming the large reservoir supplied water to Kiev residents. Due to the unprecedented disaster in 1986, air, water and soils were polluted to a varying degree. Hydrological… Read More

Warsaw, 1890. 332 pp. 20x13 cm. Contemporary quarter-leather. Guilt lettering on the spine. Stamp of the pre-revolutionary library on the title verso. Very good. The first edition in Polish of 'Looking Backwards: 2000-1887' by Edward Bellamy. It was translated by Józef Karol Potocki (1854-1898) and became one of the first translations of this American bestseller. Worldcat locates the only copy in National Library of Poland.

Moscow: Moskovskii rabochii, 1940. 164 pp., 20 ills. 22x17,5 cm. In original cloth with lettering and a photograph mounted on the front cover; granite-patterned endpapers. Slightly rubbed and soiled, otherwise very good. First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Very rare in this condition. A fascinating example of book design by Solomon Telingater (1903-1969) and the finest edition glorifying the Palace of Soviets. The edition masterfully echoed Telingater's principle of making a book a sophisticated artistic construction. Due to his significant experience in type design and printing processes, Telingater was entrusted to do whatever he wanted in a printing shop. He could print and correct every page as often as it took until he was satisfied. This particular mock-up was created with small monochrome drawings going along the text. They feature world constructions, some masterpieces of Soviet architecture built during industrialization, and various projects of the Palace of Soviets. Twenty inserts… Read More

Petrograd: t-vo R. Golike i A. Vil'borg, 1915. [4] pp., 24 ills. 15х11 cm. In original printed wrappers. Bumped, pale water stains, tears of the spine with minor losses, otherwise very good. First and only edition. Extremely rare. A small and curious album published on the eve of premier of the grandiose bibliographical work by V. Adariukov and N. Obolianinov, 'The Dictionary of Russian lithographed portraits' (1916). Reflecting the first century of lithography in the Russian Empire, the authors listed people on portraits and noticed some not identified works. This book of 24 undetermined portraits was a kind of request for feedback of readers who might know these persons. No copies located in the Worldcat.

Leningrad: Lengiz, 1925. 112 pp.: ill. 15x11,5 cm. In original photomontage wrappers. Tears of spine, underlines and some soiling occasionally, some sections detached from each, otherwise very good. A remarkable cover features constructivist letterpress design and a photomontage composition of Singer House in Petrograd and Lenin's monument. After nationalization, the Petrograd Department of the State Publishing House was located in this historic building. It is an interesting catalog listing all Lengiz publications promoting the former leader of the Communist party. It includes 56 Lenin's publications and 115 works on him, his methods, also separated sections "Lenin and Trotskyism" and "Lenin for clubs, reading huts and schools". In the section about Trotsky, compilers gathered works proving the divergence of principles of Lenin (i.e., the party) and Trotsky, their different approaches to the formation of a communist country, mistakes of the latter. There is a Bukharin's book "How the History of… Read More

Odessa: Yugo-LEF, 1924. 16 pp. 26,5x18 cm. In original constructivist wrappers. Spine, wrappers, outer corners of pages restored, otherwise very good. Between the last leaf and the back cover, one advertisement from a pre-revolutionary book is inserted. The second of five issues produced. One of 3000 copies. Extremely rare. Cover design created by Nikolay Sokolov (1904-1990). He designed all issues, except for the first one. Yugo-LEF as the group existed for less than a year. It was formed in April of 1924. The editorial board of the magazine included three writers - Leonid Nedolia, Semyon Kirsanov, Sergey Bondarin, and two artists - Nikolay Sokolov and Nikolay Danilov. Ukrainian-born poet Leonid Nedolia became the main manager of the group. At that time he just returned from Moscow where he was the editor-in-chief of the satirical periodical 'Krysodav' [i.e. The Rat-Crusher], so he worked with Mayakovsky, Igor Terentiev, Kruchyonykh, Meyerhold, Dmitrii Moor, etc. Over the course of the year, the… Read More

[Petrovsk (Saratov region), late 1920s]. 8 photographs mounted. Photos: 22x16 or 23x17 cm. Album: 30,5x22 cm. In contemporary illustrated covers and a modern case reproducing two photographs. Few names are inscribed in pen throughout the album. Spine restored, some soiling, small fragments of covers lost, otherwise very good. This noteworthy photo album contains photomontages dedicated to a "living newspaper" troup, a common phenomenon in the Soviet propaganda of the 1920s. As the pictures themselves state, these performers followed principles of the Blue Blouse. The movement rallied agitprop theater collectives in 1923-1933, promoting revolutionary art and contraposing themselves to the professional stage. Each "blueblouser" felt responsible for the whole team: during performance one person could become an illuminator, a singer, a makeup creator, a reciter, a gymnast, a dancer. The preparation of costumes required considerable imagination: the cardboard collage was often used to depict any clothing.… Read More

[Irkutsk: Ispolnitel'nyi Komitet Irkutskogo Gorsoveta, 1920]. One typeset leaf. 35x20,5 cm. Tears of edges with tiny losses, some creases, otherwise very good. Extremely rare survival of time and a glimpse into the very beginning of the Communist changes. During the Civil War Irkutsk was an epicenter of political unrest in Siberia, being under the rule of Whites and Reds. In 1920, the Bolsheviks had come to absolute power and began to reconstruct the local life. Half of the streets, squares, parks and suburbs of Irkutsk lost their historical names for agitational purposes. Overall 70 names were changed. Some results were general: called after Lenin, Trotsky, October Revolution, the 3rd International. Each Trotsky street was no doubts short living. Irkutsk renamed this street twice throughout the Soviet period: Trotsky (1920) and Dzerzhinsky (1929) - and overall 15 Soviet streets in different dwellings underwent the same process. Besides, Voznesensky suburb was called after Zinov'ev until this… Read More

Moscow: Izd. Krestianskogo otd. VTSIK, 1918. 16 pp., ill. 23,5x15 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Small tears of the covers and spine, last page separated, Soviet bookshop's stamps, general wear. Otherwise good copy. Extremely rare. Agitation to send food to Moscow for peasants in a form of folk poem. This is a historical evidence of a famine in 1918-1924, future Dekulakization and collectivization. Moscow was dying from food shortage in that period of time. This is also the time of prodrazvyorstka (a Bolshevik policy and campaign of confiscation of grain and other agricultural produce from the peasants for a nominal fixed price according to specified quotas). Due to the low intake of bread on the state procurement the Provisional Government introduced a 'grain monopoly' - the transfer of the entire volume of produced bread minus the established norms of consumption for personal and household needs. The 'grain monopoly' was confirmed by the Council of People's Commissars decree authority from… Read More

Petrograd: 17-ya Gos. tip., 1920. 84 pp. 8vo. Original printed wrappers with a color lithograph by Malevich on each wrapper. Spine restored, otherwise very good copy. A rare example of Malevich's application of Suprematism to book design. Kazimir Malevich (1878-1935) famously proclaimed in the catalog to the Tenth State Exhibition in 1917: «I have broken the blue shade of color boundaries and come out into white. Behind me comrade pilots swim in the whiteness. I have established the semaphore of Suprematism.» Yet Nikolai Punin didn't see the Suprematism of Malevich as a new base for national artistic tradition. «For him it was too individualistic to serve this mighty purpose.» However, it did not stop him from being interested in Malevich's work. It is no coincidence that the front cover of this book was designed by the artist. Nikolai Nikolaevich Punin (1888-1935) was a Russian art scholar and writer. His circle of friends included Mayakovsky, Malevich, Tatlin, Lebedev and others. He was also a… Read More

Moscow: Gosizdat, 1932. [42] pp.: ill. 20x12 cm. In original illustrated cardboards. Very good, loss of the spine, covers rubbed, illustrated bookplate on the front pastedown (from the collection of O.S. Kuzmy). First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. A rare poetry book by satire poet Sergei Shvetsov (1903-1969) with an extraordinary book design focused on cartoons by classic collective Kukryniksy as well as types, spaces and other polygraphic elements created by Solomon Telingater, Soviet constructivist designer and innovator who created some of the most memorable books of Soviet era. The pioneer in printing arts was El Lissitzky who saw the book as a visual object, but the widespread acceptance of these ideas did not occur until the turn of the 1920s and '30s as a result of the efforts of his young followers. First among them was Telingater. He designed books as if they were lms or monumental posters - sophisticated artistic constructions. Such books were produced primarily for its collective… Read More

Moscow: Gosizdat, 1929-1930. 26x18 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Good. Cancelled stamps of Research Institute of Book Science on p. 1, last leaf and front cover of #2-8 (1930). Covers of #1, 7 (1929) detached from text blocks, with foxing. Tears of spine of #3, 7 for 1929, #7 for 1930. Printrun of 1929 was 10 000 copies, then it decreased to 6200 copies in 1930. Stunning constructivist cover design was produced by Varvara Stepanova. Very rare set of Soviet critical and bibliographical magazine published in 1929-1930. Its was edited by Platon Kerzhentsev (1881-1940), one of Proletkult's leading theoreticians, who studied time-management and self-organization, and a founder of the mass social organization 'The League of Time'. Formation of ideologically charged literature was one of the main goals of the Soviet state in the earliest period. The main purpose of publication was to overview the contemporary book industry after 10 years of the Soviet Union, interesting and - even more important -… Read More

2nd ed., revised. Moscow: Gileya, 2007. 550 pp., 32 ill., facs., port. 21x13 cm. In original illustrated binding. Fine. The subject of this book is Russian futuristic book, the art of the beginning of the 20th century which united creative minds of different members of Russian avant-garde - poets, artists, publishers like V. Mayakovsky, A. Krutchyonykh, D. Burlyuk, V. Khlebnikov, V. Kamensky, V. Tatlin, N. Goncharova etc. In addition this book is supplied with updated catalog of futuristic books (1909-1916) and valuable illustrations.

Vol.1: [52 leaves: 1924-1936]. Vol.2: [52 leaves: 1937-1938]. 384 images. 29,5x21,5 cm. Cardboards with leather labels on spines with gilt lettering. Bindings with rubbings, occasional foxing, one clipping is lacking fragment. Otherwise very good. Handmade albums of Efimov's caricatures that were printed in Izvestia and other newspapers during these 14 years. The albums were made by Efimov himself in late 1930s to save the works he did for the newspapers. Some bear his handwritten dates when the caricatures were printed. Boris Efimov (1900-2008) the founder of the Soviet caricature school with Deni and Kukryniksy is considered the most productive of them all. His works featured in periodicals like Izvestia, Pravda, Krokodil, Chudak, etc. The watershed in his career occurred in 1938 when his brother Mikhail Koltsov, the editor-in-chief of Pravda, was arrested and executed. Efimov was fired from all the leading newspapers and had to change his pen-name to continue being published. However after… Read More

St. Petersburg: Obshhestvennaia pol'za, 1911. 172 pp.: ill. 21,5×17,5 cm. In illustrated wrappers, the original front cover preserved. Restored,  some soiling, otherwise good. First edition. Very rare. Cover design and illustrations produced by Boris Grigoriev (1886-1939), the Russian painter and graphic artist whose style was a compromise between cubism and realism. Denying 1917 Revolution, he emigrated in 1919 but was trying to come back home and kept relations with avant-garde Russia. This pre-revolutionary edition features the art pieces that radically differ from his emigre graphic works and paintings in general. In 1910-1911 he followed traditions of 'Mir Iskusstva' society and was closer to art nouveau than avant-garde. This point unites the early works by Grigoriev and Kamensky, both are out of their recognized styles. This is the first prose book by Vasily Kamensky (1884-1961), the futurist poet who is well-known for his 'visual poetry' of the 1910s, including 'Tango with Cows', and… Read More