Search Results: Titles starting with S from Bookvica

Moscow; Leningrad: Zemlia i fabrika, 1930. 253, [2] pp. 21,5x15 cm. In original photomontage wrappers. Small fragment of spine lost, tears of cover edges, some soiling of covers, otherwise uncut pages of very good condition. First Russian edition. One of 5000 copies. The translation of an American edition (1928) was undertaken by V. Dilevskaia. The photomontage cover design was created by Solomon Telingater. The book doesn't credit him as a contributor, but later Telingater showed the cover proof in the 1963 personal exhibition. The foreword for the Russian edition was compiled by Soviet Jewish writer and literary critic Aleksander Zonin (Eliazar Izrailevich Bril'; 1901-1962). Since the early 1920s, he was engaged in literary work collaborating with various periodicals. For 1930-1934, Zonin was sent to the Far East, "for opposition to the leadership of the literary movement in the country". At the same time [or just before the exile] he debuted with his own stories. He was arrested in 1949 on… Read More

Tbilisi: Gor. U.P.O. NKVD Gruzinskoi SSR, 1944. 18 pp.: ill. 10x15 cm. Very rare. One of 2000 copies. Lithographed edition. Poems by I. Grishashvili, plot by Z. Pachkoria, illustrations by L. Gilchevskaya. Visual poetic safety regulations for children in Russian (title in Russian and Georgian). Not in the Worldcat.

Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya, 1965. 254, [2] pp., 1 portrait. Original illustrated cardboards. Very good. The first edition in Russian of The Catcher in the Rye which had first appeared in serial form in Inostrannaya Literatura five years earlier. As a devotee to the Kashkin school of translation, Rita Rait-Kovaleva attempted to convince the censors to allow her to include Holden's language, viewed the world over as obscene. The censor dismissed this outright. In consequence, Rait-Kovaleva made her translation more "literary" in tone. It remained the only authorized translation for the duration of the Soviet period. It is particularly interesting to note that this is only the third publication of Salinger's to include his portrait (the other two being the American first issue and first book club edition) as he famously demanded that all subsequent books of his must not portray him on the cover or include any reviews. An important and fascinating facet of the history of The Catcher in the Rye.

[1970s - early 1980s]. 31x21,5 cm. In contemporary blind cloth bindings. Light soiling of bindings, otherwise near fine. One reel of 13-mm wide magnetic tape. 21 cm in diameter. Mint. The reel is supplemented with 3-page memoirs by the previous owner, Kyiv resident Alexander Andrukhovich. Signed and dated 2018. He writes: "...Like many cities, we have a flea market. Radio market. There one had recommended a place where I could get text on magnetic tape for printing on the technology available to me - electronic computing machine [Russian: EVM]. Oh joy! There is text on a magnetic tape! But only Vysotsky's poems. I took the risk. Later it turned out that a brown tape 19 mm wide, wound on a reel the size of a dessert plate contains several works by the Strugatsky brothers as well. The first thing I did was type "Hard to Be a God" on the sly during my lunch break at work. There was more adrenaline in the blood than necessary. What if one caught me? It could be compared to a parachute jump. The rest I… Read More

N.p., [1970s-1980s]. 132 typewritten pp. 30x21 cm. Unbound. As new. This is a samizdat copy of the novel 'The Ugly Swans' by brothers and co-authors Arkady (1925-1991) and Boris (1933-2012) Strugatsky, the leaders of the Soviet science fiction. The ideas of Strugatsky duo were innovative but relevant to the period when people recognized the totalitarian system of the Soviet Union. Strugatsky found themselves engaged in the confrontation with the censorship and could not pretend on official approval throughout the Soviet rule. Their novels, premiered in periodicals in 1960s-1970s, were published in the book editions only in the late 1980s.  The exception no doubts is the novel 'The Ugly Swans' that had no access to official publication until the 1990s.

Moscow: Izdanie avtora, 1927. 36 pp.: ill. 18x13 cm. In original printed wrappers. In very good condition, minor fragment of the spine lost, pale water stain on the back cover. First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. The earliest manual on neutral technical fonts in the Soviet Union. In times of abundance of type designs published in special catalogues and manuals, draftsmen and industrial designers needed to use fonts lacking excess elements. They tended to use a simple and clear typeface. In 1919-1922, the German Standards Committee (DIN) outlined lettering standards for technical applications. The DIN typeface had no serifs or other details. It was accepted for technical purposes in the USSR following German, British, French and American practices. In Russian, it was called normal or standard typeface. The book showcases the Russian alphabet in these fonts, explains the construction of separate letters and methods of writing. The slope degrees, height and width of letters are indicated… Read More

[1930-1940s]. 53x67 cm. Very good. Most likely, the only copy was produced. A hand-crafted poster collecting satirical writings in verse and prose, a few drawings and photographs glued. Among them: seven epigrams that call to give up smoking or initially stay away from cigarettes; a story on murderers who were paid in cigarettes (excerpt from 'The Good Soldier Švejk' by J. Hašek); one of Mayakovsky's last poems "I'm Happy" (1929) promoting smoking cessation. The center of the poster features a drawing with a caption "This horse has smoked". Below it, there is a selection of three pictures: a comparison "smoker's fist and non-smoker's hand", a picture of a cigarette butt taken by a Photo-eye and a photo of a man who couldn't carry a bag of fruits with a caption "Clear as an orange - having smoked, bastard". Under Mayakovsky's poem, a photograph of a car is mounted with a caption written over it: "Quit smoking and you would be an owner of this car in 10-15 years". Most likely, the poster was created… Read More

Moscow; Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo, 1926. 104 pp.: ill. 20,5x14,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Small tears of spine, some soiling and creases of covers, some foxing, small blank fragment of t.p. lost, otherwise very good. Signed by the author on the title page. First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Rare. For Soviet mass consciousness, this American case when a religious group attacked the theory of evolution was close to other acts of violence adopted by the church. So it was immediately denounced in the atheist state. In this book, Soviet historian and economist Nikolai Poletika (1896-1988) retells the trial process and elaborates on fundamental Christianity stressing its class (bourgeois) nature. Poletika was appointed "own correspondent" of 'Leningradskaia Pravda' from London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Rome, Washington and other capitals of the world - actually, he had to base on foreign newspapers and write without leaving the USSR. In 1928, Poletika made a report on the… Read More

Moscow: Gizlegprom, 1934. 45, [3] pp.: ill. 15x11 cm. In publisher's wrappers. Very good, light foxing of the covers near the spine. First and only edition. One of 5175 copies. From the series "Masters of Soviet Porcelain and Faience". Ivan Efimov (1878-1959) was a Russian sculptor. Efimov painted and sculpted animals all his life, forged them from copper, cast from bronze, and cut from wood. Sculpture, painting, graphics and arts and crafts on animal themes were his main craft. His works adorn the Moscow metro stations, Yaroslavsky and Khimki stations, children's rooms of the Leningrad station, the winter garden of the Grand Kremlin Palace, the sanatorium in Morozovka near Moscow, the sanatorium in Tskhaltubo in Georgia, the interiors of the Pushkin House in St. Petersburg. Efimov illustrated more than 20 books for children and adults. The Russian writer Boris Shergin, whose works Efimov greatly appreciated, called the sculptor's work "the joyful wisdom of a child". Efimov is the inventor of the… Read More

Moscow: Sovet R. i K. deputatov Baumanskogo raiona, [1931]. 32 p.: ill. 17,5x12,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Pale water stain on the upper inner corner throughout the copy, slightly rubbed, otherwise very good. First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Striking constructivist cover design with the photograph of monument and its sculptor as well as internal design produced by Ia. Shapoval and Ia. Fidel. The book is devoted to the work by the Soviet sculptor Boris Korolev (1885-1963), one of the masters who shaped the concept 'The Monumental Propaganda' in sculpture, the maker of the cubist statue of Bakunin. In 1929 he won the competition of the sculpture projects depicting Nikolai Bauman, the founder of the Bolshevik underground printing house in Moscow that was killed during the 1905 Revolution. The edition is the detailed report on the design and construction of the monument. It includes Korolev's project of the monument, the photographs of statue and reliefs in work, the clay… Read More

Moscow: Vneshtorgizdat, 1934. 195 pp. 20x14,5 cm. Original illustrated wrapper. Fine condition. First and only edition. One of 2000 copies. Very rare. A very interesting and unique in its kind publication on the northern fur seals (Callorhinus ursinus). The title of the book suggests that the content is about the arti cial breeding of seals on industrial scale but in fact that idea was only born in 1920s-30s and was never quite put into practice. Instead the book is a detailed economical, biological and historical account of the seals themselves, and its history of the interactions with human from the rst spotting of the rookery on Bering island in 1742 to the seal hunting in the 20th century. In the preface author states that the fur from the seals has the perspective in becoming available for the average Soviet household. Through the book the seal hunting on Commander islands (USSR) is compared with the hunting on Pribilof island and Robben Island by USA and Japan. The author tries to prove the… Read More

St. Petersburg: A. Golovachyov, 1866. [2], vi, [2], 503, [1], xii pp.: ill., 1 ill.  22x15 cm. With 1 folding engraved plate and 37 illustrations in text.  Contemporary half-leather binding.  Rubbings and occasional foxing, owner's signature on the title-page. Very good. First edition. One of the fundamental works by Ivan Sechenov (1829-1905) the teacher of Ivan Pavlov. In this book Sechenov emathised that not only anatomical approach to nervious system is important. For the first time Sechenov describes the mechanism of central inhibition in the brain. Rare in good condition.

[Moscow]; [Leningrad]: Molodaya gvardiya, 1937. 433, [2] pp., 36 ill., portraits and maps: ill. 13.5x19.8 cm. Original cloth binding. Light soiling, two minor tears to the maps (1,3). Otherwise near fine. Scarce. First edition. Translated from the original Norewegian language by the Soviet translator M. P. Dyakonova. Norwegian edition was published in 1913. This is the second Russian translation of Roald Amundsen's South Pole. In Russian print, the name of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) began to appear from the late-1900s. Russian readers were offered a chance to get acquainted with the first Russian translation of anything by Amundsen in 1908 (K severnomu magnitnomu polyusu i cherez Severo-zapadnyy prokhod [i.e. To the North-West Passage]). The present book, South Pole, was first translated into Russian by E. Aleksandrova in 1924, more than ten years after the original Norwegian publication. The second Russian translation of the work by M. Dyakonova came out in 1937 and marked a… Read More

[Moscow]: Goskinoizdat, 1941. 264 pp.: ill. 23.2x17.8 cm. In original publisher's quarter cloth binding. Rubbed boards, previous owner's ink inscription on the verso of the front endpaper. Otherwise in a very good condition. Scarce. First edition. 1 of 2,000 copies. Edited by N. Markovin. Soviet lessons on combined and stunt filming from the best of the best. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Soviet cinematography witnessed a time of technical experimentation and research. The decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of March 23, 1938 «On Improving the Organization of Film Production» underlined the need to use combined filming as the most effective way of coping with existing issues in movie industry. From that time on, the Soviet directors began actively incorporating stunt and combined filming into their work. A famous Soviet animation and fantasy film director, Alexander Ptushko (1900-1973) started his career in cinema in 1927 as a doll designer and immediately got carried away with… Read More

Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo, 1930. 16 pp.: ill. 16,5x12,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Spine restored, pre-war stamps of school library, otherwise very good and clean. Second edition. The classic example of the photobook 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 worked with Malevich and Lissitzky in Vitebsk and was a member of UNOVIS in 1921, but then he 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 worked with Gustav Klutsis, creating posters and book designs together. Although traditionally the early development of photomontage in the USSR is attributed to Klutsis, Sen'kin's role shouldn't be underestimated. After 1921 he fully dedicated himself to industrial and applied design, creating also posters, stamps and… Read More

Leningrad: Izd. avtora, 1927. 204 pp. 20x14 cm. In original wrappers with letterpress design. Fragments of spine lost, covers rubbed, otherwise very good and clean internally. Second enlarged edition published the same year as the first one. After five editions were printed, the book was banned in 1930. It is the first and the best known work by Soviet venereologist Lev Fridland (1888-1960). He had been studying at the Medical department of Kyiv University until he was drafted into the army as a doctor. Later he passed graduation exams at Don University. In the 1910s, Fridland worked in hospitals in the Southern part of the Russian Empire. During the Civil War, Fridland was sentenced to death by Whites and then imprisoned for four years of hard labor until the release by the Reds. In the early USSR, Fridland practiced freely and prolifically wrote about medical cases. 'Behind a Closed Door' is a rare for the Soviet era publication about the blatant sexual ignorance and promiscuity in contemporary… Read More

Lviv: Drukarnya Naukovoho Tovarystva imeny Shevchenka, 1901. XII, 102, [4] pp. 18.4x12.3 cm. In original publisher's cloth binding. Soiling of the boards, lettering on the front board partly erased, occasional neat restoration with tape, private library stamp on the title-page (Viktor Tsebrovsky). Otherwise good. Scarce. First edition. Translated from the original by Panteleimon Kulish. Edited by Ivan Franko (1856-1916). Published in 1901 by Panteleimon Kulish, this is the first Ukrainian translation of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The first translations of Shakespeare's works in Ukraine appeared at the beginning of the 19th century when the Ukrainian poet Nikolay Kostomarov (1817-1885) interpreted Desdemona's Willow Song from the tragedy Othello. However, it was not until 1882 that the Ukrainian press witnessed the emergence of the first complete Ukrainian translation of anything by Shakespeare, namely Hamlet by the Ukrainian writer and playwright Mykhailo Starytsky (1840-1904). At… Read More

Lviv: Drukarnya Naukovoho Tovarystva imeny Shevchenka, 1901. XIV, 180 pp. 18.1x12 cm. In original publisher's cloth binding. Loose, staining to the boards, private library stamps (The Library of V. Simovich) on the title-page and p. 180, previous owner's ink inscription on the title-page. Otherwise good. Scarce. First edition. With the ex-libris of V. Simovich. Translated from the original by Panteleimon Kulish. Edited by Ivan Franko (1856-1916). Published in 1901, this is the first Ukrainian translation of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The tragedy came out under the translation of the famous Ukrainian writer and one of the most prominent figures in Shakespeare's Ukrainian translations Panteleimon Kulish (1819-1887). Although the writer finished working on Antony and Cleopatra in the early-1880s, the translation was not printed until after his death. As the EMS decree (1876; a decree of Tsar Alexander II of Russia) banned the publication of Ukrainian books in the Dnieper region, the edition… Read More

Shanghai, 1930. [6], 317 pp. 13x9 cm. In original illustrated wrappers by A.A. Yaron. Very good/near ne condition. The spine is very carefully fixed. Extremely rare. First and only edition. Lev Grosse (1906-1950), writer and son of Viktor Grosse (1869-1931), Russian diplomat, one of the active members of the first emigration wave in Shanghai (this book is dedicated to him). His son Lev was one of a few Russian far eastern poets who were published in Europe and America up until 1941. He worked a lot as a translator, published his works in Harbin and Shanghai (even several poetry books), he led active literary life there but he was desperate for Russian language environment. In 1948 he came to USSR and worked as a translator for year, later he was arrested and died in camps in 1950s. Wrappers were designed by Russian emigrant artist Alexander Yaron (1910- 1911). Alexander didn't receive a proper art education but achieved all his success by self teaching and working with leading artists of Shanghai… Read More

Moscow: Snabtekhizdat, 1932. 53, [2] pp.: ill. 22x15 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Small tears of the spine with minor fragments lost, creases of the back cover, p. 54 soiled, pale private stamps on the title page and p.54, pencil marks on margins and colored pencil number on the back cover, otherwise good. First and only edition. One of 2000 copies. Scarce. Constructivist design was likely produced by technical editor S. Shkol'nikova. Given the narrow focus of shark fishing in different countries, the Soviet writer Nikolai Berezin proposed a more rational use of sharks. This work is the first among his publications. All of them were devoted to the Soviet fish industry and such topics as the processing, preservation, storage of fish, and fish products. Some works were approved as textbooks for factory workers. Akin to other fields of the national economy, the Soviet fishing industry experienced forced development since the first five-year plan (1928-1931). Authorities raised issues of… Read More