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[A RARE WARTIME TRAVELOGUE FOR THE YOUTH] Yak Yurko podorozhuvav na Dniprovi porohy [i.e. How Yurko travelled the rapids of Dnieper]

Steshenko, Oksana

Item #2321

Second amended edition. Kraków-Lviv: Mytropolycha drukarnia “Studion” for Ukrainske vydavnytstvo, 1942. 102, [2] pp., ill. 17 x 11,5 cm. Vol. 19 of Biblioteka “Doroha” series. Publisher’s illustrated quarter cloth. In Ukrainian. Overall good condition. Firm binding compromised with slightly warped and stained boards. Book block foxed, with scattered spots and few stains. Traces of ink scribbles appear on pp. 75, 99, pencil marks on pp. 70-71. Some leaves creased due to low grade paper stock.

The front cover illustration echoes fly-title with a Dnieper scheme accompanied by a wind rose: the design of the book’s editor Sviatoslav Hordynskyi (1906—1993), a prolific writer and artist noted for his figurative fonts used in book design.

The author, Oksana Steshenko (1875-1942), being directly involved in primary education, clearly understood how to create a narrative engaging enough for children. Steshenko was the younger daughter of the notable writer and editor of the first comprehensive Ukrainian dictionary Mykhailo Starytskyi (1839/40-1904). She married writer and political activist Ivan Steshenko. Oksana Steshenko primary supported her husband in his work, but also participated in some projects led by the local Red Cross, including the local primary education organisation. In a few years Oskana Steshenko and all her family witnessed grim and bleak realities of 1930’s Red terror. Her husband Ivan was killed after a local Bolshevik request in 1918. Oksana, her sister Liudmila and two of three of their children all perished or were killed in Soviet concentration camps years later.

The drawings in text are by Leonid Gamburger (1899-1984), who was a children’s book illustrator and a skilled animalist with an artistic career spanning over 50 years. However, the illustrations provided in this second edition exhibit stylistic variations, indicating collaboration, as noted “by different artists”. This middle grade niche book describes in a third person perspective a journey of a 14-year-old Yurko and his uncle Petro. The way this book is structured allows interwoven narrative, joining the river travelogue with excerpts of historiographical bits covering Ukrainian history of the Dnieper basin region. The light-hearted humorous adventure with a scout-like spirit provides Yurko exciting
opportunities to rely on his maturity and show his skill and independence with cooking, rowing, and problem-solving. The story is engaging with storm encounters, talks with fellow rafters, deterring thefts and discovering advancements of the decade: radio and technologies. The story frames the Dnieper and its surroundings as a symbol of the country’s constant evolution: a blend of industrialisation, living national arts and crafts, a firm and friendly connection between younger and older generations. From available bibliographical material we know that Steshenko compiled and/or wrote at least 9 books, with her debut fairy tales compilation Ridni kolosky having 4 editions in under 8 years.

Not in the National Bibliography of Ukraine.
Ukrainska dytiacha knyha 1920-kh rokiv u fondakh Pedahohichnoho Muzeiu Ukrainy. Kataloh-putivnyk (Kiev, 2018), #137
Yurii Khorunzhyi. Shliakhetni ukrainky. Eseiparsuny (Kiev, 2004).
Kurt Levin. Mandrivka kriz iliuzii (Kiev, 2007).

Rare. WorldCat shows only 2 copies of this 2nd edition, both in North America: one at University of Toronto, Canada, another at University of Illinois, US. KVK finds no additional copies.

Price: $450.00