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[PRINTING] Elementarnyi kurs tekhniki nabornogo dela [i.e. Elementary Course of Typesetting Technique]

Osetskii, A., Mikhailov, I.

Item #1765

Petrograd: Izd. Soiuza i Sektsii Poligraficheskikh Proizvodstv, 1920. 106 pp.: ill. 20,5x14 cm. In original illustrated wrappers. Tear of spine, covers detached from block, some soiling of wrappers, otherwise very good.

Signed by authors to Vasily Desnitsky (1878-1958), Bolshevik revolutionary and Soviet literary historian. Since 1920, he was non-partisan despite joining a group of Red professors. In 1922, he was on the list for the expulsion of the intelligentsia from Russia by “philosopher's steamers”, but one of the prominent Bolsheviks stood up for him. In December 1922, he was temporarily exiled to the Vyatka province for anti-Soviet activities. However, he still was a professor of Leningrad universities later.
Loosely inserted leaf contains a 3-page handwritten poem about this book that A. Osetskii wrote for Desnitsky. In this curious poem, the author asks Desnitskii to supply him with an academical ration. Osetskii has got payed for the writing of this course with this academic food ration. In terms of country breakdown and common hunger, Bolsheviks organized a privilege system for various groups. In particular, in the early 1920s, they provided academic ration packs.
This early Soviet manual describes the practice of typesetting for students and novice workers of printing shops. The text is illustrated with woodcuts of equipment, a drawing of Russian type case, schemes of French and German type cases and some type specimens. The authors explained technical details, for instance, how to produce poems, tables and what daily newspaper typesetting differs from others. As a supplement, three tables are printed at the end: Latin alphabet in printed font, cursive and pronunciation; first pages of sections in various format books; mathematical and geometrical symbols. The same authors also released a book on stereoplate printing in 1920.

Not found in Worldcat.

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