20th Century: Avant-garde And Dissidence from PY Rare Books

First publication of the poem "Christopher Columbus", illustrated by the famous futurist artist and Maykovsky's friend. One of only three works published by Mayakovsky in the US; scarce: Worldcat locates only four physical copies (Harvard (2), Penn State, University of Notre Dame), to which we can add one copy at RNB and one at the Slavonic Library in Prague. We… Read more about this item

First edition of this depiction of the Russian emigration in Berlin in the Golden Twenties - with a famous cover designed by Lissitzky, and some lovely examples of fine book design. One of the key figures of Russian Formalism, the writer and literary critic Viktor Shklovskii (1893-1984), fearing arrest for opposing the bolsheviks, fled Russia in March 1922. He settled in… Read more about this item

The golden age of children's illustration in Russia: a colorful depiction of the advancements of the Soviet collective farming. First edition, in excellent condition. ***Full description kindly provided on request***

Charming Russian émigré children's book, with hand-made block print cover and illustrated by the 10-y. old 'Zheniia' Kovarskaia. The famous children's tale tells the story of a runaway cake that refuses to be eaten. The major publisher of Russian emigré works, philanthropist and Freemason Jacques Povolozky (pseud. for Iakov Efimovich Benderskii, 1881-1945) founded his publishing house in Paris in 1910 with… Read more about this item

Fine example of the first edition of this celebrated artist's work, with the famous cover in fine condition. In 1920, Altman was invited to the Kremlin to create a bronze portrait of Vladimir Lenin. To complete this task, he spent about six weeks with the Bolsheviks' leader, sketching his face and daily routine movements, such as sitting at the desk, reading,… Read more about this item

This work delves into the infamous case of Menahem Mendel Beilis, a Russian Jew (1874-1934) who stood accused of ritual murder in Kiev in 1911. The prosecution alleged that the murder of the 13-y. old child Iushchinskii was a religious ritual, drawing connections to the blood libel, a widespread legend that many Russians believed during that time. Beilis endured over… Read more about this item

Fine copy of this uncommon issue devoted to the USSR, to 'Russia, Russia, Russia', aiming at detailing for the American public still suffering from the 1929 crisis all aspects of Stalinist USSR in the early 1930s. Richly illustrated, the account is wide-ranging, lively and slightly ironic from time to time - of great interest for those interested in the Western… Read more about this item

Very rare: we could not find any examples of Nabokov in samizdat in the West, and only one example of Nabokov's samizdat poetry at auction in Russia. With nice provenance. This samizdat selection of poems by Nabokov from 1918-1939 is copied from the illegal in the USSR, large edition of his collected Russian poems Stikhi [Poetry] (1979, Ardis, Ann Arbor), which was… Read more about this item

Great two-volume émigré collection of poetry and analysis, in an attractive example in the original wrappers. The first volume is a roll call of major émigré names, from Remizov, through Kuprin, to Teffi; it also contains one of the earliest, if not the earliest appearance of Nabokov's work in the West, published just a few months after he went into exile.… Read more about this item

An attractive, fresh example of this scarce first edition. This is the first book by Nabokov published outside Russia, and his first collection of poems published commercially. Full notice available upon simple request Description Small 8vo (16.2 x 12.2 cm). [3]-64 pp. incl. leaf with publisher's device, title and section title. Binding Original publisher's printed wrappers, with original staples. Condition Wrappers slightly soiled or stained, just a… Read more about this item

The Pantheon of the Silver Age - a complete set. Scarce complete set of all five issues of this important almanac, which printed, often for the first time, the works of censored Russian authors. As a result, it includes most of the best Russian authors and poets of the 20th century. Contents include especially: - Vol. I: Akhmatova, Poema bez geroia [Poem Without… Read more about this item

Very rare full-page satirical illustrations of the situation in Russia during the turbulent years of the Civil War. We could trace only three examples in WorldCat: Harvard (apparently the only one in the USA), Leipzig and Nanterre (France); the NYPL seems to own a microform. We are not aware of any other copy on the market in recent years.

SUPERB EXAMPLE OF THIS 'MASTERPIECE OF THE RUSSIAN POETIC AVANT-GARDE' (Johnson 25) INSCRIBED BY ILIAZD TO ANDRE SALMON, a talented man of letters, poet and leading art critic. In excellent condition, with the rare leaflet loosely inserted. One of only 500 copies, this one num. 317. Zdanevich dedicated the first edition of this poem in zaum ("transmental" language creation, Russian form of… Read more about this item

An important run of this striking Ukrainian emigre satirical magazine, remarkable for its Cold-War caricatures covering more than 20 years. Published by Edward Kozak (1902–92, also EKO), who was also its principal caricaturist and cartoonist. He first worked for the Lviv-based satirical and humor magazines Zyz [Cross-Eye] (1927-33), Komar [Mosquito] (1933-39), and Nash dzvinochok [Our Little Bell] (1932-39), while consistently… Read more about this item

Fine example of the first English edition of Grigoriev's celebrated extended cycle of Russian portraits. Limited to 500 copies only, this one num. 7. Faces of Russia started its life as Grigoriev's initial project, the album titled 'Raseya' (a slang word for peasant Russia), published in Petrograd in 1918. At the time, Grigoriev was already scandalously famous: in 1913 he… Read more about this item

First edition of this important collection of stories on Soviet labour camps, which Shalamov (1907-82), a poet and man of letters on the wrong side of the Soviet authorities, experienced repeatedly during the entire reign of Stalin, from 1929 to the early 50s. Kolyma, where Shalamov spent most of his sentences, is a remote, sub-arctic region of north-eastern Siberia, where… Read more about this item

A remarkable example of revolutionary poetry during the Silver Age, and of provincial publishing during the Civil War. A unique copy, with the linocut coloured by contemporary hand and inscribed by Evangulov and Ivnev(?) to the artist of the striking cover, Ivan Ivanov: Талантливому автору нашей обложки худ. Ив. Иванову на память этот "Костер" горящий в наших умах / 17.IX.1920 / Геор[гий]… Read more about this item

First edition of Solzhenitsyn's first published book: a celebrated "pirate" edition published abroad without the author's consent. A very good example of the issue with the striking "bearded-man" cover, which Flegon used later in his own book about "the slanderer Solzhenitsyn". There was another cover published, showing a watchtower instead; there is no priority firmly established, the watchtower being possibly the… Read more about this item

FRESH EXAMPLE OF THE DELUXE VERSION ON JAPON IMPÉRIAL (№10 OF ONLY 18 COPIES), WITH THE TWO ADDITIONAL SUITES AND SIGNED BY SCHIFFRIN, who translated and published the work. One suite is in colour, like in the book, the other in black and white; the total print run was only 445 copies. Shukhaev (1887-1973) studied at the Higher Artistic School of… Read more about this item