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[CATALOG OF 1920s GIZ] Katalog detskikh knig [i.e. Catalog of Children’s Books]

Leningrad: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo, 1924. Item #1822

62 pp.: ill.+4 pp. of ads. 17,5x13 cm. In original illustrated wrappers.

Cover design features a two-color woodcut illustration and letterpress design. An artist’s monogram is unclear and is dated 1920.
This trade catalog lists children’s books on sale in the early Soviet period, including editions of the State Publishing House and other publishing enterprises [mainly pre-revolutionary]. Among them are companies of Mirimanov, Popova, Wolff, Devrien, Soikin, also “Vsemirnaia literatura” [World Literature], “Knizhka za knizhkoi” [Book by Book], “Zhizn’ i znanie” [Life and Knowledge], etc. They are divided into sections depending on readers’ age. Nine reproductions of book cover design are included. Among them are nice examples of letterpress design influenced by avant-garde art: “Small Long-Eared Bat” (1923) designed by D. Mitrokhin and “Collection of Russian Tales” (1923).
Published before 1918, books of private enterprises were nationalized along with all properties of publishing houses and then the books were either liquidated or sold.
In all, this catalog is an interesting source on early 1920s book culture. It also contains 8 advertisements: separate editions and book series released at Leningrad department of GIZ, its trade organization and provincial publishers acting as LenGIZ branches. An advertisement for gift children’s books contains Chukovsky’s “Crocodile” that was severely criticized since 1925.

Not in Worldcat.

Status: On Hold