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[KULISH IN WRAPPERS] Tsyhan. Urivok iz kazki P. A. Kulіsha. [i.e. A Gypsy. An excerpt from a fairy tale by P. A. Kulish]

Kulish, P[anteleimon]

Item #2314

Sankt-Peturburg: V tipografii Departamenta Udelov [for Drukarnia P. O. Kulisha], 1862. Vol. no 36 of Sіl'ska biblіoteka series. 7, [1] pp. 15 x 9,5 cm (6 x 3 ¾ in). Publisher’s typed temporary wrapper. In Ukrainian, printed using accented and stressed Cyrillic letters. Very good condition. Wrapper is restored (spine, crease in rear wrapper filled). P. 7 shows a loss of a small text fragment.

Provenance: Early inscription on the front cover (date ‘1874’ and illeginle signature in Cyrillic). P. 8 bears a rectangular rubber stamp of H. Kolyada familial library: Ukrainske slovo v drukakh 1798-
1897. Z knih V., H., i O. Koliad. From past owners it is known that the stamp refers to Hryhorii Koliada (1896-1977), a noted collector and respected early Ukrainian book printing researcher, specialist of Ivan Fyodorov heritage. Koliada’s collection of some 4000 items focused primarily on books printed in Ukrainian or within the territories of modern Ukraine between the XVIIth and XIXth centuries.

Panteleimon Kulish (1819-1897) is a recognized Ukrainian classic who was as popular as the iconic Taras Schevchenko. Kulish achieved renown in the 1880 with a series of historical novels, reflecting on the historical formation of Ukraine. In the late 1840’s Kulish was one of the few intellectuals to join the first Ukrainian proto-political organization Kyrylo-Mefodiivske bratstvo. Kulish was arrested in 1847 and stripped of the right to see any of his works published. This only solidified his commitment to cultural enlightenment. Following the lifting of the ban in 1856, Kulish, grasping on to a slightly more relaxed political climate, established his own printing house in St. Petersburg and resumed his plans of printing books in Ukrainian. For his enterprise Kulish bought a printing machine in Berlin. The initial intention was to name the publisher “The Ukrainian book printer”, however this request was denied and Kulish chose the more formal Drukarnia P. O. Kulisha. For a brief period of under 10 years of existence his printing house became a nexus for Ukrainian cultural revival movement within Eastern Ukraine: printing books, primers and cornerstone Ukrainian periodicals such as Osnova and Khata. It was also here that Kulish published his influential Gramatka (Saint-Petersburg, 1857), first modern Ukrainian primer of Eastern Ukraine. For his Saint-Petersburg publications Kulish even invented kulishovka, a phonetic system that avoided most of Latinization to which the censors were allergic. However, those enlightenment-focused activities were met with a harsh political backlash. Gramatka was banned. And the ban was shortly followed by the brutal Ems decree. Those bans and a managerial conflict within the editorial board led to the bankruptcy and closure of this important Eastern Ukraine publishing house.

This Tsyhan is also printed using kulishovka. Furthermore, this brochure exhibits an early form of kulishovka, the typeface showcasing rarely seen peculiarities of a font and language as it was yet developing. Notable, the explosive Ukrainian ґ [g] is clearly distinguished from the Russian г as exemplified by the words like gвалтуе (p. 5). Letter ё is used throughout the text, which was characteristic for Russian books. Stressed syllables are indicated for most multi-syllabic words. It is likely that Kulish indented this brochure to one of the first printed Ukrainian texts that its readers would handle, thus necessitating a system to aid in recognizing their native language — in printed format. Such a novel publication would have undoubtedly generated surprise and confusion, perhaps even anger, among the villagers.

Our copy is significant, because it includes the survived publisher’s covers, that advertises other books printed by Kulish – including such milestones as Hamalia and Haydamaki by Taras Shevchenko, ‘Gramatka’ and works by M. Vovchok, H. Barvynok – altogether 39 editions are advertised.

Kulish conceived the series, but the smaller brochures were introduced by Danylo Kamenetsky, the general manager of Kulish’ printing house. Kamenetsky proposed to print smaller items that soon became known as metelyk [butterfly], a series of semi-ephemeral editions designed to promote literacy and cultural awareness among the lower classes of Ukrainian population. The brochures were produced affordably: the present book is 2 silver kopeks, small and with no fancy decor nor illustrations akin to European chapbooks. According to the information provided on the back cover, these brochures were distributed from 7 warehouses in St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Poltava, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Odessa and Lviv. The circulation is unknown to us, but judging from the known sales and similar editions it can be estimated as 500 to 1500 copies. According to the Soviet researcher Kyryliuk, some metelyki editions — those with verses by Shevchenko — enjoyed a larger circulation of up to 3000 copies. It is recorded that some younger intellectuals distributed these brochures directly at the village fairs. An interesting memoir of such a voyage can be found in a 1862 Osnova almanch. The memoir vividly describes the reactions of the villagers upon encountering the books printed in Ukrainian. Even the open-minded landlord class were surprised to see that those dribiazki [small books] were not printed in Russian. However, in just two days many books were sold with primers and fairytales generating particular popularity: a total of 75 books were sold. Another one was a gift (a bribe?) offered to a local policeman. The second fair, held a couple of days later in a neighbouring village, was even more successful with people gathering to listen to the readings from the books. During that second 3-day fair a remarkable quantity of 118 copies were sold, with 58 of books bought by ordinary people with limited education.
Tsyhan, modestly described as an “excerpt” is in fact a complete story and is listed among the earliest literary works by Kulish. The story was completed in 1839 as noted on p. 7. The importance of this short story should not be underestimated for it is the first Ukrainian text by Kulish to appear in print, published in a 1841 almanach.

Tsyhan draws on folklore motifs and popular story-telling traditions of the era. It is a somewhat comic if not anecdotal story that Kulish “remembers” as being told to him by his mother. Modern researchers confirm the story’s roots in Ukrainian folklore (as well as most of the early Kulish short prose). Albeit Ukrainian in character, Tsyhan presents a variant of a widespread narrative motif with potential connection to Arabiс or Turkish material. Fables based on a similar twist can be found in One Thousand and One Nights story corpus.

The story is well-structured and unfolds in Voronezh (modern Sumy region). It begins with an unconscious, drunk Gypsy Vakulo being transported by an order of a nobleman to his estate. Vakulo wakes in surprise. But he quickly adapts to the lavish lifestyle: sending orders, eating, singing, dancing, and, as one can expect, getting drunk and passing out again. The same nobleman orders to transport Vakulo back to his original location. Upon waking up again, Vakulo struggles to understand whether his vision was a dream or a real adventure.

The story demonstrates classic comic, burlesque, satirical tropes, showing a stark hierarchical and class disproportion between ordinary people and noblemen. Kulish criticises excessive drinking in a light-hearted manner, with love, pity and understanding towards the poor struggling Gypsy.

Though a less direct comparison, Tsyhan can be constrasted against Pushkin’s classic Cygany (1827). Where Pushkin’s upper-class Aleko idealises Gypsy lifestyle, Vakulo idealises the upper class lifestyle. Pushkin’s protagonist embarks on a deliberate journey to join an outcast group with hopes to resolve his inner conflict and feed his desires; while Vakulo is thrust against his will into what he percieves as an aristocratic lifestyle. Thus, in both works, the Gypsies appear as a transgressive social group, one that is able to bridge the gap between the classes.

Reference used:
Kyryliuk, Ye.. Shevchenko – vydavets vlasnykh tvoriv. // Polihrafiia i vyd. sprava. – Vol. 10 for 1974 — pp. 10–18.
Kulish, P. Tsyhan. Uryvok z kazky // Lastovka. Sochynenyia na malorossyiskom yazike, sobrav E. Hrebenka. – SPb., 1841 – pp. 362–370.
Havrysh, A. Piat den z zhyttia X-ho studenta // Osnova — vol. IX for 1862 — p. 60-73.
Lisha, S. Khudozhnia proza Panteleimona Kulisha u konteksti ukrainskoho romantyzmu. Lviv, 2015.
National Bibliography of Ukraine, vol. I (1798-1903), #592.


Very rare, especially in wrappers.
Not in WorldCat. Not in KVK. NBoU mentions 4 copies in Ukrainian libraries.

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