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[SONGS OF LOVE, DNIEPER, AND THE STEPPE] Ukrains'ka Pisnia. Ukrains'kyi Natsional'nyi Spivannyk. Ponad 200 Naikrashchykh Ukrains'kykh Pisen' iz Notamy [i.e. The Ukrainian Song. Ukrainian National Songbook. Over 200 of the Best Ukrainian Songs, Sheet Music Included]

Myrovych, R[oman], Koval'chuk, V[olodislav]

L'viv: L'vivs'ka drukarnia for Desheva Knyzhka, 1938. Item #1938

255 pp. 17 x 12,5 cm. Original publisher’s paper wrapper illustrated in black & red. 1st and only edition. Run not mentioned.
In Ukrainian. Cover design is not credited, but can be likely attributed to Roman Сhornii (1905-1940). Chornii was a graphic artist illustrating the majority of Desheva Knyzhka books, drifting in his artistic approach towards a mix of symbolic figures and angular fonts. The stylistic resemblance of this cover to the ones mentioned as covers drawn by Сhornii is evident (see: Yatsiv, R. Roman Chornii, Mystets'ka Lehenda L'vova: Materialy do Istorii Ukrains'koho Mystetstva 1920-1930-kh Rokiv / Instytut Narodoznavstva NAN Ukrainy. L'viv: Rastr-7, 2013). Aside from his art, Chornii was an active Ukrainian nationalist, arrested and executed by NKVD during the early 1940’s. Good condition. Paper loss on the bottom of the spine. Some creases of the front and back cover, spots on the back cover. Insides good & clean, pencil mark on p. 72.

The book is marked as an OVDMO edition. OVDMO stands for Oseredok Vydavnychoi Dopomohy Masovii Osviti [i.e. Center of Publishing Assistance for Mass Education], an organization backed by Ukrainian nationalists (OUN) with an aim to promote literacy and simultaneously nationcentric and anti-Bolshevik ideas among the lower classes. OVDMO ceased to exist with Soviet annexation of the region due to govt. ban. The song book's publisher, Volodymyr Kunanets' (19?? — 1948) was a notable OUN activist engaged in a multitude of projects, from choirs to underground publishing and distribution of weapons — that led him to a Polish prison in 1934. Fresh out of the camp, in 1935 he invested his father’s fortune into the publishing house that became Desheva Knizhka.
Supported by OVDMO and OUN, Desheva Knyzhka focused on books aimed at poor, peasantry and barely literate people living in the region. OVDMO created a group of “educators”, combining in such figures teacher’s training with nationalist propagandistic rethorics. OVDMO issued ABCs, textbooks, dramas, songbooks — ones especially aimed for collective, choir singing and staging (Ukhach, Vasyl'. Na Fronti Dukhovnoi Borot'by Derzhavotvorcha Diial'nist' OUN v Tsaryni Kul'tury ta Osvity (20 — 40 Roky XX st.). Ternopil': Vektor, 2011). "Desheva Knizhka'' existed for four years from 1935 to 1939. It published books and periodicals, among which Samoosvytnyk was the most popular with a run of 22 000 copies during its prime.

Two editors of the book are mentioned on the title: Roman G. Myrovych (1909-1944) was Ukrainian poet and composer, also an OUN activist. The second editor, Volodislav Koval'chuk (? — 194x), was a playwright active in 1930’s Lviv. Koval'chuk was a member of curious Dvanadtsiatka [i.e. A Dozen] literary circle. Dvanadtsiatka was formed by Anatol' Kurdydyk (1905-2001), a satire master and lifelong journalist. It indeed consisted strictly of 12 members. Marginal to the mainstream clubs and unions, those 12 writers and poets were interested in a more Westernised approach to the writing. The writers cherished the estheticism and expressionism of the language in describing urban life. Its primary activities unfolded during the late 1930’s in Lviv as local readings. Koval'chuk was probably responsible for editing the musical score as a person keen in music — and for writing the introductory note.
In that brief introduction the editors take a stance on the importance of songs and relying on traditional culture during the hard times. In a way, the book was intended to be kind of a literary amulet used to support ordinary people in their daily lives on the brink of WWII. Lviv in 1938 was a diverse city in soon-to-be occupied Poland. But it was still a free city and with nationalist moods on the rise, many Ukrainians still had freedom to enjoy their culture. Cheaper editions like this one were an item to be used, not studied like in-depth folklore studies by the legendary folklorist Filaret Kolessa (1871 — 1947). Nevertheless, the book provides its rich and diverse lyrical content, divided into 8 parts: historical, cossack, riflemen, jokes, love lyrics, for women, burlak, lullabies, women songs and rites. The rites are further divided into themes of: spring, Kupala, wedding, festivals. Ukrainian songs were one of the most important vehicles of storing the unique language and culture of Malorossiya. They were coming historically mainly from two sources: traditions on which the village life was based like big wedding days and collective crop gathering and warrior / traveller tales. A fascinating niche touched by the collection are burlak (barge pullers) and chumak (wandering trader) songs, a topic formed by the unique trading routes of the Ukrainian Steppe and a network of rivers that was a cheap way for goods transit.
Looks like that most of the work done by authors of the present collection was research, sorting and arrangement of the songs from the previously known collections. We managed to compare the collection with some earlier song books such as Ukrains'kyi spivanyk compilation by Arsen Bakkalins'kyi with the first edition printed in Odesa during early 1900’s. Both the notes and the texts of compared songs are almost identical in verses, key, melody lines. Only minor changes, discrepancies in musical notations such as absence of legatos and some editing of particular words in verse phrasing occurs. Thus the songs and the notation seem to follow the original folk songs gathered by the first generation of Ukrainian folklorists of the late XIXth century.
Judging by the details of the promotional campaign (see the frontispiece ad in Desheva Knyzhka. Dvotyzhnevyk, #5 for March 1938), the circulation was at least in the 1000’s as the campaign provided a generous “buy 6 get 7th copy free” offer. The ad stated that the initial information on the songbook generated a flood of requests for additional copies of the songbook. Might be true or might be just a clever trick to show the audience some interest in the publication: we’ll never know. Somehow, few copies survived: the edition probably was banned by the Bolshevik regiment.

Rare. Not in KVK. W WorldCat fifinds 3 copies: one at University of Manitoba in Canada, two in the US: NYPL and Saint Basil’s Collega Library in Stamford (OCLC 37782682).

Price: $450.00