Bookvica

[WARTIME GEORGIA] Soblyudaite pravila ulichnogo dvizheniya [i.e. Obey the rules of the road]

Item #2100

Tbilisi: OPP Gruz.otdel Khudfonda SSSR, 1942. 8 pp., ills. 10x13 cm. 1 of 15000 copies. Original illustrated wrapper. Tear to the spine, otherwise good.

First and only edition. Very rare, as it was distributed among children and was not intended for keeping.

An interesting Children’s book, a guide to safe walking, teaching the children the safe conduct of the roads of Georgian SSR, printed in the midst of
WWII, in the beginning of the battle for Caucasus, which threatened the whole region to become occupied by the Nazi forces. As of summer 1942, when this book was already produced and distributed, the offensive on Tiflis began, though it was destined never to reach the Georgian capital.
The book itself doesn’t have any war associations in its design or content - t’s a story of a rabbit, who is portrayed as a reckless walker, at first he nearly got run over by a crocodile, wearing a bourgeois attire, than he gets borrowed bike crushed into an elephant, and finally, while trying to jump on a tram in a desperate attempt not to miss school, he gets his paws broken. The final image depicting the class of animals being tutored by a monkey on the safe walking.
Interestingly, the book came out in the artistic publishing body, associated with the artistic fund of Georgian SSR, that was usually producing
exhibiting catalogues and different printed materials, associated with the artistic needs. It was approved by Georgian section of the Ministry of Education for pre-school children, so it remains a mystery why this publisher was used. However it can explain the book’s striking design.
The artist in charge was G.M. Cherkashin, of whom nothing is known. According to the catalogue of National Library of Russia, this was his only work in book design.
Overall an interesting survival of its time.

Not in the Worldcat.

Price: $550.00

Status: On Hold