The Height of Soviet Constructionist Picture Books

TSIRK [The Circus]

By Samuil Marshak, illustrated by Vladimir Lebedev

1925

First edition of the famous avant-garde picture book, the first collaboration by the two formative children's books creators published by Raduga.

Very good.

Price: $3,000.00

TSIRK [The Circus]

"Raduga became the first publishing house in Petrograd that was specialized in children's books. Its books marked the beginning of a decade that has been called the Golden Age of Soviet Russian children's books." – Lemmens and Stommels

Marshak was a central figure in the production of children's books after the Revolution of 1917 who often worked with Raduga, the "most influential of the early Soviet children's book publishers" and Lebedev, "the greatest of Russian picture book artists" (Hearn). Lebedev's constant experimentation and avant-garde aesthetic brought a remarkable dynamic into picture books; as Michael Patrick Hearn says, "Every book was a masterpiece of modern graphic design." TSIRK not only their first collaboration but also viewed by many as their best: its influence across Russian picture books, and further, into European modernism, is difficult to overstate.

Read more: MoMA, Russian Avant Garde Book, pp. 172-3; Lévèque and Plantureux, Dictionnaire des illustrateurs de livres d'enfants Russes, 158; Lemmens and Stommels, Russian Artists and The Children's Book, 1890-1992; Hearn, From the Silver Age to Stalin: Russian Children's Book Illustration in the Sasha Lurye Collection.

The Object

Leningrad [St. Petersburg]: Raduga, 1925. 11'' x 8.5''. Original color pictorial wrappers printed in red, green, yellow, and black. Illustrated by Lebedev with large central color images on each page. [12] pages. Subtle repairs to spine, some shallow chips to edges and several short closed tears, paper scrape on one page. Faint staining and uniform toning.

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