Search Results: Titles starting with P from Bookvica

Moscow: Rabochaia Moskva, 1924. 40 pp.: ill. 26x17,5 cm. In original constructivist wrappers. Foxing occasionally, otherwise very good. First and only edition. Rare. Notable constructivist cover design reproduces Lenin's portrait. It was created by Leonid Mezhericher (1898-1938), an artist and photographer who was known as an initiator of the Soviet Press Photographers Association. In the 1920s, Mezhericher was one of the designers who contributed to the magazine "Samolet" (Airplane; 1923- 1926). In 1931, he published a book 'Soviet Photo Information in a New Phase'. He was arrested and died in the Magadan camp in 1938. The book was issued the same year the party leader died. It is entirely filled out with texts in posthumous frames and includes no color spots at all. In the front cover, silhouettes of funeral lowered flags are depicted behind the portrait. Not found in Worldcat.

Three letters and signed book by Boris Pasternak (1890-1960), the letters and inscription are unpublished. 1. Pasternak, Boris. Okhrannaia gramota [i.e. The Protection]. Leningrad, 1931. 128 pp. 18x12,5 cm. In original cardboards. First edition of Pasternak's autobiographical book, dedicated to his pre-revolutionary life. Inscribed by Pasternak on the half-title: "To Ilamaz Mitsishvili for the happiness and memory of those magnificent hours, that I spent at his mother's house. B. Pasternak. 27 of February. 1959". Covers are slightly rubbed. 2. Three letters with three envelopes, the addresses on them all are in poet's hand. 1 p., 1,5 pp., 2 pp. This little archive tells the story of Pasternak's trip to Georgia half a year after he received Nobel Prize and a year before he passed away. All three letters addressed to Marina Nikolaevna Mitsishvili, the daughter of one of the leaders of Georgian symbolism, poet Niko Mitsishvili (1896-1937). Mitsishvili was one of the founders of 'Blue Horns', the… Read More

Pictorial plan. Běijīng Yíhé Yuán - Wànshòu Shān - niǎokàn [i.e. Beijing Summer Imperial Palace - Longevity Mountain - with Bird's Eye View]. 52,5x76,5 cm. Brochure. Yíhé Yuán = Ikheiuan' (byvshii Letnii imperatorskii dvorets) [i.e. Summer Palace]. Beijing, 1954. 7 pp. 22x16 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. In original printed envelope decorated with ornamental frame. Both map and brochure are in very good condition, envelope worn, with spot. In Chinese and Russian. The Summer Palace is among the most visited destinations in China, ranking in the top five, and attracts about 10 million tourists annually. The plan was compiled completely in Chinese. Its rear side contains some photographs of sights with Chinese descriptions. Without any changes, the print was included in a set for Russian tourists and was supplemented with the brochure in Russian. In the latter, names are doubled in both languages. The brochure lists and describes 30 attractions marked in the pictorial plan. They… Read More

Leningrad: Khudozhestvennaia literature, 1991. 156, [4] pp. 8vo. Original illustrated wrappers by S. Lemekhov. Very good / near fine. The first Russian edition of A Clockwork Orange, published in May 1991 (the month before the collapse of the Soviet Union). The challenge for the translator was to handle Burgess's unique fictional register, so-called Nadsat. In Nadsat (derived from the Russian for "teen") all the words had a Russian origin and double meanings. A.Boshniak decided to give these words in Roman characters without translating them in an attempt to replicate for Russian readers the experience of English readers.

#1-11, 12/13, 14, 15/16, 17-21, 22/23, 24-30, 31/32, 33/34, 35, 36/37, 38, 39/40 for 1925. Overall 35 issues. Moscow: Gosizdat, 1925. 34x26 cm. In contemporary binding; original wrappers preserved. In general, most issues are in a very good condition. Binding with first 18 pages and last issue detached from the rest block, p. 19-21 (#1) detached, tears, two small holes (#20). Otherwise very good internally. Binding rubbed, with tear of the spine. Printrun varries 6 000-10 000 copies. Very rare. Cover design of #1-24 was produced by artist Harry Clinch - pseudonym of Boris Petrushansky (1892-1946) - a Soviet graphic artist and caricaturist who contributed to 'Bezbozhnik' and 'Krokodil', designed books and posters. Petrushansky skillfully combined photomontage with caricature. Later this technique was used by many designers of satirical magazines and posters, including the 1970s-1980s. Starting from issue #25, the cover design turned to constructivism and the initials of unknown artist G.B. appeared on… Read More

Tiflis: Zakavkazskaia torgovaia palata, 1934. 84 pp., 1 folding map. 22,5x15 cm. In original printed wrappers. Spine chipped and tanned, few small spots, minor tears of last leaf with fragments of outer edge lost, otherwise very good and uncut copy. First and only edition. One of 1600 copies. An early Soviet economic guide on Iraq that was first printed as a separate edition while central publishing houses issued earlier the only collection about Islamic countries in Western Asia. Reconstruction of the old oil regions was planned for the first five-year plan. Search for new oil fields in the Soviet Union wasn't fully conducted in the 1920s. Meanwhile, by the end of the decade, a stunning gusher in Iraq attracted the attention of all participants in the international petroleum business and affected Soviet oil export as well. The edition overviewed economic development of the country, stressing and mostly updating information about local oil industry and foreign companies operating in Iraq. The… Read More

Saint Petersburg: Imprimerie Trenké et Fusnot, 1900. 32 pp.: tables, 39 plates: 1 portrait, 2 folding maps, 10 leaves of charts, 26 ills. 24x17 cm. In original printed covers with coats of arms of the Russian Empire. Very good, small and blank fragment of lower edge of pages lost, spine slightly worn, some foxing, small tear of the last map, Paris bookshop label on front cover. Richly illustrated edition about early activity of one of the largest oil companies of the late 19th century, The Nobel Brothers Petroleum Company [or BraNobel]. The company revolutionized the oil industry, introducing numerous inventions and closely collaborating with Dmitrii Mendeleev. It was the first vertically integrated oil company in Russia with a full technological cycle from exploration to sales. It operated mainly in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. The edition shows a report of the company's activity and production statistics in 1882-1900. The text part is complemented with the folding map of the Absheron Peninsula… Read More

St. Petersburg: Akvilon, 1923. 49, [7] pp.: ill. 27x22 cm. In publisher's color lithographed illustrated wrappers. Rubbings and small tears, edges are chipped, tears and small losses of the spine, owner's signature on p.1 and markings on the back endpaper, rare foxing of the wrappers, very light stain of the inner side of the lower end of the wrappers. Otherwise a very good clean copy. 1 of 1000 copies. First edition. Kuz'ma Sergeevich Petrov-Vodkin (1878-1939) was a major modern Russian and Soviet painter, teacher and writer. Being mostly a painter he was experimenting with literature during all of his life. In 1921 Petrov-Vodkin travelled to Turkestan (Uzbekistan) with an expedition organized by Academy of History of Material Culture to study architectural monuments. He was amazed by the colors of Samarkand, called it ''the land of turquoise revelation'', and the result came in a form of 'Samarkand series' which is regarded by many as the acme of his artistic career. This book was compiled from… Read More

Kiev: Muzgiz, 1927. 35 pp. 34x25.5 cm. Some tears and stains on the wrappers and lower margin, otherwise very good. First Ukrainian edition. Rare. This is a piano transcription of Igor Stravinsky's early composition 'Petrushka'. He began to create the ballet in Ukrainian town Ustyluh in 1907. Performed for the first time in 1911, the composition has been one of the most popular Ballets Russes. Its piano version presented not mere piano reduction of the composition, but an attractive independent work that is now known as ''Trois mouvements de Petrouchka''. Stravinsky created piano version of the suite in 1921 for his friend pianist Arthur Rubinstein. He was the only musician who made Stravinsky believe in the soft sounds of piano performance. This is one of the early publications of the music. The edition is designed by Grygory Berkovitch (1905-1976), a Soviet artist and designer from Kharkiv. Not in the Worldcat.

Moscow: GIKhL, 1931. 64 pp.: ill. 18,5x13 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Restored, some creases, otherwise very good. First edition. Very rare. This is one of the well-known Soviet photobooks and one of the earliest literary works on triumphal projects of the First Five-Year Plan. The poem by Alexander Bezymensky (1898-1973) was devoted to construction of Dnieper Hydroelectric Station by architects Vesniny. The finished dam considered the victory of mankind over nature (the rapids were inundated making the ship route easier). At the same time that was the tragedy begun from the destroyed river banks - a shot of blasting work was chosen for the cover. This started a visual account of this book. The layout by Solomon Telingater shows uneven lines of poems connecting with the harsh process of construction. The text pages are supplemented with six photographs resembling stills from a documentary film. They were produced by the well-known photographers of that time Boris Ignatovich, Feodor… Read More

Ivanovo-Voznesensk: Reklamprovintsiia, 1924. 14 ll.: ill. 15x23 cm. In original illustrated wrappers with unknown monogram. Pale water stain on back cover, ink student organizer on last two leaves, otherwise very good. Rare early Soviet provincial photobook published on the memory of pre-revolutionary workers. Ivanovo-Voznesensk located most textile enterprises of Russia - both in pre-revolutionary and in Soviet periods. The city was also known as Russian Manchester. Ivanovo-Voznesensk strikes were mass strikes of factory workers that began in the 1870s and gradually became increasingly widespread. The main reason for the mass protests was the difficult situation of ordinary workers: low wages and heavy working conditions. In the early 20th century, most weavers' walkouts were initiated by Bolsheviks. One of such workers' strikes was launched on August 10, 1915 [or August 23, according to the post-revolutionary calendar]. During it, military troops shot 30 workers and crippled about 58 people. In… Read More

Moscow: State Art Publishers, 1939. 96 pp.: ill. 40x26 cm. In original full cloth with lettering and design on the front cover and spine. Illustrated endpapers. Slightly soiled and rubbed, otherwise very good. First and only edition. Illustrated throughout with photomontages and photographs by Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova. The album is known to have been produced in tremendous haste. After signing the contract, the designers had just eleven days to submit a mock-up of the album and less than a month to prepare the publication for the printers. More than that, the photo books published for the 1939 New York World's Fair were without crediting the creators. In this regard, Rodchenko wrote in his diary: Making books has become entirely uninteresting. The last album for the American exhibition was printed without the names of designers or photographers. What is that? What pleasure is there in working? (May 2, 1939). The title page features an image of a five-pointed star against the sky,… Read More

Leningrad: Lenpartizdat, 1934. 95 pp.: ill. 22,5x15,5 cm. In original oversized blank wrappers and photomontage dust jacket. Edges of dust wrappers restored, some stains of correction fluid on first and last pages, minor spot on t.p., otherwise very good. First and only edition. Rare. Photomontage design of dust jacket and layout were created by graphic artist Mikhail Razulevich (1904-1993). He was engaged in the design of Soviet children's and nonfiction books in the 1930s. His montages were applied for holiday decorations as well. Another highly evaluated book is 'The Story of the Five-Year Plan' reprinted and redesigned by Razulevich several times. Art historian Mikhail Karasik called Razulevich "Lissitzky of children's books". In the dust jacket design, a large figure of the former party leader stands among industrial structures built in the early 1930s, machinery, an airship and airplanes launched. Razulevich combined them as objects of an expanded paper model observed by Lenin. Crowds of… Read More

Moscow: GIZ, 1930. 16 pp. 18,5x13,2 cm. In original wrappers. Near fine condition. First and only edition. Photomontage design of the book by Sergei Sen'kin. Very rare, especially in such condition. The classic example of the photo-book created by one of the pioneers of the Soviet photomontage, Malevich's student and Klutsis' right hand, Sergei Sen'kin (1894-1963). Sen'kin has been an important link between suprematism and constructivism: he has worked with Malevich and Lissitsky in Vitebsk and was a member of UNOVIS in 1921, but by 1923 he has became one of the active members of the Left Front of Arts in Moscow, collaborating with Rodchenko, Mayakovsky and Stepanova. All of this time he has worked with Gustav Klutsis, creating posters and book designs together. Although traditionally the early development of photomontage in USSR is attributed to Klutsis, Sen'kin's role should not be underestimated. After 1921 he has fully dedicated himself to the industrial and applied design, apart from the books… Read More

Leningrad: Izd. Ekskursionno-lektorskoi bazy OBLONO, 1929. 55 pp.: ill., 4 ills. 17,5x12,5 cm. In original wrappers with the organization's mark and lettering reproducing handwritten title. In very good condition, pale water stains on covers, rubbed, 1920s stamps of the Central bureau of local lore. First edition. One of 2000 copies. Rare. The book features an interesting example of a photomontage organization's mark on the front cover. It presented an excursion bureau of the OBLONO [i.e. the Provincial Department of People's Education]. The mark included a sloped photo of the Peter and Paul Fortress superimposed on hammer of socialist symbol while metal structures were placed around; a worker turning a gear was drawn under them. We couldn't find any reference about this mark. The author of this book, Nikolai Antsiferov (1889-1958) was a historian, scholar of culture and local lore. He gave lectures, led excursions in Saint Petersburg and suburbs, wrote a large number of guides for mass education… Read More

Moscow: Voenizdat NKO SSSR, 1944-1945. Generally, very good. No back cover of #1, 4 for 1945, tears, creases and stains, small fragments of spines occasionally lost. The organ of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army published in 1942-1960. Titled initially as 'Frontline illustration', it was issued after WWII as 'Red Army Illustrated Newspaper' (1945-1947) and merely 'Illustrated Newspaper' (1947-1960). The periodical demonstrated wartime chronicle through relevant pictures by frontline photographers and filmmakers, as well as photomontages. A. Zhitomirskii and B. Shashkov were credited as the main artists of Voenizdat publishing house and most likely designed all issues. Alexander Zhitomirsky (1907-1993) found the ideal niche for his creativity in political propaganda. Starting to combine photographs in the late 1920s, he underwent the influence of Rodchenko, Lissitzky, Klutsis, Stenberg brothers and experienced the visual language of communication. His absolute oeuvre was the design of… Read More

Moscow: Novaia Moskva, 1924. 63 pp.: ill., 1 portrait. 18x14 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Small tears of spine, otherwise mint. First edition. One of 8000 copies. Record of a speech revolutionary Yemelyan Yaroslavsky (1878-1943) gave soon after Lenin's death, on January 29, 1924. The cover design features a photomontage installed into the title - ''Lenin''. The word consists of heavy block letters and is tightly connected with Communist hammer and sickle. Two letters E and I are covered with a picture of a crowd. According to Khrushchev's memoirs, the Communist party called Yaroslavsky a "Soviet priest", as in the 1920-1930s he was the foremost anti-religious propagandist and was the main initiator of the anti-religious policy of the Soviet leadership. He performed this function for nearly two decades, until the German invasion of the USSR when Stalin turned to the Russian Orthodox church for help in the war effort. He was an editor of the atheist satirical magazine Bezbozhnik [Godless]… Read More

Moscow: Detgiz, 1959. 56 pp.: ill. 29х23 cm. In original illustrated cardboards. Covers rubbed, pages slightly soiled, otherwise very good. First and only edition. Design by S. Zus'kov. Photographs are provided by Vladimir Kuz'min. Children's photomontage book on production of trucks at the Moscow factory called after Likhachev (ZIL). The edition became a good reply to photobooks of the 1930s. By the Great Purge, children's photo books became films printed on paper and proudly showed documentaries on happy socialist life. In such publications, the leading role belonged to a photographer. This late-1950s book seems like an animation film and a doll nut leads us through various departments of the factory. The allusion to cinema is maintained because of the lack of margins around photographs. The history of this factory dates back to 1916 when the Moscow Automobile Society (AMO) was formed. The second birth of the AMO factory was given in 1924. A column of the Soviet lorries crossed the Red Square in… Read More

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… Read More

Moscow: Fizkul'tura i sport, 1941. [21] pp. : ill. 9,3x8,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Mint. First and only edition. Very rare. Remarkable miniature photobook giving instructions on daily physical exercises. Physical culture of proletarian masses established in the youth. Schools held sports competitions, Osoaviakhim branches organized military clubs for young generations of Soviet-minded people. There was a stubborn struggle for the right to take part in international Spartakiads in 1928-1937. As a part of hygiene widespread since the 1920s, morning exercises were introduced with a selection of particular workouts for women, children, employees who worked primarily standing or sitting or who usually operated a particular group of muscles. This small guide contains two general exercise complexes for children, differing in complexity. In the first one, the author offered seven movements and doubled the number in the following complex. According to the foreword, children should have started… Read More