Bookvica

[TALE ABOUT CAUCASIAN LEOPARD] Satanjio

Markov, A.

Item #2204

Tbilisi: Saxelgami, 1930. 39 p.: ill. 1 of 4000 copies printed. 21,5x15 cm.

Original illustrated wrappers, as well as illustrations in text by Apolon Kutateladze (1899-1972). Fine condition, very rare for a Georgian children’s book of the period.
First and only edition.

A great example of a children’s book set in the Caucasus mountains. It was written in Georgian by the Russian author E.Markov, and illustrated by one of the representatives of Georgian modernism Apolon Kutateladze. He fought for Georgian independence in 1921, but after a short time in prison, he managed to re-launch his artistic career in Tbilisi and soon became the secretary of the local Rabis association, as well as the founder of the society of the revolutionary Georgian artists ‘Sarma’. He became one of the contributors to the leading Georgian satirical magazines of the time, including ‘Niangi’, and designing books. His style of book design has been called minimalistic and light, and his ability to create a spacious composition with the minimal tools were celebrated. In this book, using only pencil, the illustrations are reminiscent of the Leningrad school of children’s books illustration – and Apolon has spent time in 1928 there studying.
The story itself is about the panther ‘Satanjio’ and a boy from the mountain village. Referencing Rustaveli, the author also involuntarily contributes to the story of extinction of leopard in Caucasus – in late XIXth century the leopards were considered to be common both in North and South Caucasus, whilst by 1950s they were sighted for the last time in XXth century in the Caucasus, while hundreds of leopards from this species still lived in Iran and Turkey.
In 2007 in Russia the program to restore the population of the leopard was launched and in the 2020s a few sightings both in Russia and in Georgia occurred.

Price: $450.00