Rare books from Bookvica

St. Petersburg: tip. A. Transhelya, 1879. XVIII, 110, 192, [3] pp. 20х14 cm. Contemporary half leather with faded gilt-lettering on the spine. Original covers are preserved. Rubbed, private library ink stamps on the front pastedown, cover and last page, Soviet bookshop's stamp on the title page, owner's markings in text. Otherwise a very good copy. The first Russian translation of the most important work by Immanuel Kant (first originally published almost a century ago in 1788). In Russia Kant was an important figure, and attitude towards his philosophy work was complicated and ambiguous. With the development of high education different approaches to interpretation of Kant's philosophy have shaped. Perception of his work was particular for every town - Moscow, Kiev, St. Petersburg, Kharkiv. Kant's philosophy was spreading in waves (three overall), for example, at first it was introduced by professors Melman and Schaden in Moscow University who actively started to promote it; Karamzin published… Read More

Moscow, 1898. 15,7х10,6 cm. Photographed in the studio by V. Chekhovsky. Early Shalyapin's autographs are very rare. Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin (1873-1938) was a remarkable Russian opera singer whose vivid declamation, great resonance, and dynamic acting made him the best-known singer-actor of his time. He was very involved in his international carrier, and he had a great impact on the world of opera singing. In 1896-1899 he sang in opera house of Savva Mamontov. Those four seasons made him famous as he developed a lot and moved to performing first parts and solos.

Berlin; Paris: Russkoe iskusstvo, 1921-1926. #1-14. Ca. 32x25 cm. Every issue in illustrated wrappers. Generally very good, some mild soiling, with tiny tears and losses of the spine (#1,2,12,14), foxing and piece of tape on the spine (#13). A complete set. Extremely rare in wrappers. Lavishly illustrated throughout with black and white and color plates with captions. Print run was approximately 300 copies. Zhar-ptitsa is 'perhaps the most famous of post-revolutionary art journals, whose contributors threw new light on the development of Russian art at the beginning of the twentieth century' (Fekula). By the early 1920s, a large Russian emigre colony had formed in Germany, and the hyperinflation that swept over the country turned it into a paradise for publishers who found the conditions under which the output of books was much cheaper than anywhere else in Western Europe. All this caused a 'Russian book boom' on the banks of the Rhine: about 50 Russian publishers worked in Berlin at that time.… Read More

Tbilisi: Zakkniga, 1926. 14 pp., 1 ill. 17.6x13cm. In original photomontage wrappers by Alexander Rodchenko. Tear of the spine, four pages are detached, soviet bookselling stamps on the rear wrapper. Otherwise in a good condition. First edition. 1 of 5000 copies. An epitome of Mayakovsky's inner struggle that had reached its peak in the mid-1920s. Conversation with a Tax Collector about Poetry is the first in a series of works publicly criticizing the new Soviet philistinism, according to which poets became compelled to pay taxes and submit annual declarations of income. Financial problems had always been an integral part of Mayakovsky's daily life: numerous trips around the country (which he often financed himself), his "lavish personality", and financial support he provided for his mother and sisters demanded large amounts of money: "I earn less, ... than I should. I can't keep up with my expenses". Yet, it was not the new law and additional levies it implied that enraged the taxpayer, but the… Read More

Moscow: Krug, 1923. 85, [9] pp. 13,5x11 cm. In original printed wrappers. Restored, otherwise very good and clean copy. Ownership (embossed) blindstamp of Ernest Heitetz. One of 3000 copies. Constructivist publisher's mark (on half title and back cover) created by Iu. Annenkov. There are four lifetime editions of Osip Mandelstam's poetry. After the first one, "Stone", Osip Mandelstam sought to publish a book "New Stone", but it appeared under the name "Tristia" in publishing house 'Petropolis' (Berlin) in 1922. Mandelstam agreed with the composition of poems but was furious about missing spots. In result of it, he has created his version of this collection, in Moscow, named it "The Second Book" and dedicated to wife Nadezhda Khazina. It is hard to overestimate her contribution to this edition. The poems were written during the First World War and the revolutionary mess. The original drafts were lost and a couple had written together the text again. After Mandelstam was executed in 1938, all his… Read More

Full set for 11 years (1962-1972). Overall 132 issues in 22 cloth bindings (original blue wrappers preserved). Occasional foxing, damp stains (vol.2 1968), front cover damaged (#12 1968). Otherwise very good. Novy mir is one of the oldest monthly literary magazines in modern Russian. It has been published in Moscow since January 1925. It's base was Izvestiya publishing house, and in the first year it was edited and supervised by A.V. Lunacharsky and Yu. Steklov. At first, Novy Mir mainly published prose that approved of the general line of the Communist Party. In the early 1960s, it changed its political stance, leaning to a dissident position. The words ''Novy mir'', ''Tvardovski's magazine'' became symbolic, causing delight and respect among some readers, and gnashing of teeth among others (especially in official instances). A lot has been written about those years, about that edition, its fate, including on the pages of the magazine. Tvardovski's Novy Mir is one of the brightest pages in the… Read More

Moscow: Sel'khozgiz, 1940. [126] pp.: ill. 29x23 cm. In original cloth with gilt embossed design and gilt lettering on the front cover and spine (faded). Slightly rubbed, few defects of the back cover, some soiling of lower outer corner, otherwise very good. First and only edition. One of 5000 copies. Design by A. Belov. Illustrated throughout with black and white photographs and photomontages as well as three leaves with colored illustrations. Extremely rare with only copy located in Ohio University. One of the Soviet photobooks of animal husbandry connected with VDNKh pavilions. Richly illustrated, the edition opens with a woodcut title page; both chapters have half-titles with photographs of the appropriate pavilion. The books of VDNKh often start with its main entrance and this one shows a sculpture "Tractor Driver and Female Farmer" installed on a high pedestal (overall 13,5 meters) near the original (pre-war) entrance. In the 1950s the sculpture was changed and moved atop the entrance itself.… Read More

Saint Petersburg: Ory, 1907. 96, [8] pp. 13,5x10 cm. In original two-color printed wrappers with publisher's vignette (doubled on t.p.) designed by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. Near fine. Second edition printed the same year. Rare. First Russian novel that openly discussed lesbianism. It was created by female poet and writer Lydia Zinovieva-Annibal (1866-1907) who was close enough to Narodniks, she was full of revolutionary ideas. Together with her second spouse, poet Vyacheslav Ivanov, she hosted symbolist meetings ('On the Tower', called because the meetings were held on the tower) and sponsored their small-run publishing house 'Ory' printing symbolist works. The novel was written in late 1906, but the censorship saw "the signs of a crime" (promotion of depriving behavior) and decided to forbid the book. The print run was arrested for a few months. By this time, the first Russian gay novel had already printed. Kuzmin's 'Wings' (1906) filled up the whole issue of 'Vesy'. The main periodicals of… Read More

Collection of eight brochures from the Soviet Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair [numeration is alternative]: 1) Prokofiev, A. The Palace of Soviets. 2) Papanin, I. The Soviet Wintering Station on the Drifting Ice. 3) Fyodorov, E. Scientific Work of Our Polar Expedition. 4) Komarovsky, A. The Moscow-Volga Canal. 5) Stakhanov, A. The Stakhanov Movement Explained. 6) Khazan, D. Light Industries of the U.S.S.R. 7) Bergelson, D. The Jewish Autonomous Region. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1939. 14,5x11 cm. In original illustrated wrappers with various design. Very good. Each pamphlet got a unique letterpress design, black & white or colored illustration, placed on both covers or the front cover only. As an exception, issue #1 features an embossed composition of the Palace of Soviets on the front cover. Among artists attracted were N. Lobanov (#1), B. Schwartz (#4), H. Klering (#7). All brochures contain black and white full-page photographs and small drawn vignettes. These… Read More

St. Petersburg, 1913. 58 pp.: ill., 9 ills. 21x15,5 cm. In original illustrated covers. Some stains on covers, otherwise very good and clean internally. First and only edition. Extremely rare with no copies in Worldcat. Interesting evidence of the early period of orthopedic surgery in Russia. In contrast to other institutions printed yearbooks regularly, this clinic published the only album of its kind. Separating from general surgery in the 19th century, the Russian academic study of orthopedics started to include practical classes with patients only by the 1900s. The first clinic of this kind was established by professor Henrich Turner (1858-1941) at Saint Petersburg Military Medical Academy in 1900. Organized by him and students, the clinic expanded its activity and treated patients from the whole country. Turner first raised the issue of the state treatment of children with deformities and practiced it at this clinic. 12 photographs of patients with deformities accompany text and are printed on… Read More

Moscow: Der Farband, 1932. 20 pp.: ill. 31x23 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Covers detached from the text block, tears to spine, small pieces of paper glued to the first and last pages, otherwise very good. One of 4000 copies. In Yiddish. An issue of the first Jewish atheist monthly that was published in 1931-1935. The Soviet authorities embarked on bizarre yet extensive propaganda against Judaism from the first months of the Soviet regime. Among the activities of the Evsection of the Communist Party (1918-1930) was a campaign against this religion. A number of "public trials" against such institutions as сheders, yeshivas and synagogues were staged in Kiev, Vitebsk, Rostov, etc. Closed and nationalized synagogues were turned into workers' clubs. Rabbis were blamed for both trotskyism and agitation against Birobidzhan; they were arrested, imprisoned, and exiled to camps. In 1925, the League of Militant Atheists was formed, and consisted of 5 million members by 1932 and about 22 million by… Read More

Vilnius [Vilna]: the typography of Vilna Orthodox Holy Spirit Brotherhood, 1620. 131 leaves. 20x15 cm. Original full leather with elaborate blind gilt on the front and back covers. Later end-papers. Owner's inscriptions on the half-titles from the 18th century onwards. One later clasp preserved. Ink stamps of the previous owner Ivan Ivanovich Pelnikov (19th cent., in old orthography) on the title page and l.1. Calligraphic variations of the word leta [i.e. years] on the verso of the last page. Missing 11 leaves, of which 3 are supplied in later manuscript (likely 19th century). The margins of the title page have been restored in the 19th century, not affecting the text. A great rarity, the first edition of this important collection of prayers translated into Ruthenian. The title page is present, with an elegant full-page woodcut of Basil The Great on the verso. 129-132 l. are missing from all the copies known, including this one. The 140 of 152 book initials are woodcuts made from the original… Read More

Two books on sex, originating from the same source: 1. Entsiklopediya intimnoi zhizni [i.e. The Encyclopedia of Intimate Life]. [N.p., 1970s]. 44 leaves. 30x22 cm. Typescript. In owner's plastic folder. Soiling and deformations of the folder, clean text block. The Soviet underground translation of an American book from the 1960s. On the title page it's stated 'Detgiz' (main Soviet publishing house for children's books) in the place where the publisher should be, which is probably an irony by the creators of this samizdat copy. The text is in the form of a dialog between sexologist and married couple. Translation is very interesting linguistically as the Russian language at the time was not very prepared for this topic and sometimes the translator had to look for phrases and expressions that didn't exist yet. Also unusual is the fact that homosexuality is mentioned but not as a separate topic, but while discussing other matters. The homosexual relationships are mentioned in the neutral contexts,… Read More

Moscow: Der Emes, 1945. 88 pp.: ill. 14x10,5 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Small fragments of spine and blank leaves lost, some tears, creases and soiling, otherwise very good. First separate edition. One of 15 000 copies. Translated to Yiddish by B. Kotik. One of the earliest Soviet works about Holocaust. A wartime book that was printed a month before the Nazi's military surrender. Treblinka extermination camp was built and operated by Nazis in occupied Poland in 1942-1943. Apart from the Auschwitz camp, there was no place with more Jewish people tortured and murdered. Nazi's Treblinka was divided into two parts: forced-labor camp Treblinka I for Polish prisoners and extermination camp Treblinka II. Only a small number of Jews survived this camp (after escaping in 1943). The writer Vasilii (Iosif) Grossman (1905-1964) was one of the correspondents who were the rst to estimate the number of people killed at Treblinka. In 1941, he was engaged as a war correspondent and wrote witness accounts… Read More

Berlin: Fremdsprachendienst-Verlags-G.m.b.H., 1941. #11 of 1941. 12 pp.: ill. 46x31,5 cm. Crease in the middle, minor foxing. Otherwise good. Extremely scarce. 1 issue from 18 published. By the late 1930s, Germany was home to over 50,000 Russian emigres who left their homeland shortly after the October Revolution. During the Great Patriotic War, Russian expatriates in Nazi Germany were faced with a choice between supporting the Soviet Union or the German power. This magazine was the voice of those Russian emigres who decided to back the Nazi regime. The periodical's editor was Vladimir Despotuli (1885-1977), a Russian journalist and publisher who served as an adjutant lieutenant under general Nikolay Baratov during World War I. After the Bolsheviks prevailed, he settled in Germany and initiated the Russian-language newspaper Novoye Slovo [i.e. New Word]. The periodical was funded by the Nazi party's foreign affairs office and featured anti-Semitic and anti-Soviet articles. In 1943, two years after… Read More