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[ON BOOK ILLUSTRATION] Verstka illyustratsiy v knige [i.e. Book Illustration Design]

Gessen, L.

Item #2472

Moscow; Leningrad: Gos. izd-vo legkoy prom-sti, 1932. 3-94, [2]pp.: ill. 27x20.4 cm. In original publisher’s cloth with lettering on the front cover and the spine. Early Soviet stamp of party organization on t.p. Near fine condition.

First edition. Scarce. This is a comprehensive guide to the layout of illustrations in a book.

Lazar Gessen (1889-1932) was a pedagogue at the Leningrad State Tekhnikum of Poligraphy, one of the first Russian technical editors and an author of numerous publications on book design. His most famous works include: “Oformleniye knigi” [i.e. Book Layout] (1928), “Arkhitektura knigi” [i.e. Book Architecture] (1931) and “Ekonom’te bumagu” [i.e. Save Paper] (1932).
The edition consists of five chapters: 1) Techniques of Image Arrangement on a Page 2) Image, Text, Paper 3) Basics of Image Arrangement in Text 4) Positioning Two Images on the Spread Separating them with Lines 5) Image Captions. The author provides a detailed information on the various types of page layout organization and elaborates upon the main factors of proper image arrangement. Importantly, the book includes An Appendix which both visually and textually showcases the most widespread mistakes in design (such as overly long captions, incorrect spacing, inaccurate image arrangement, etc) and offers Gessen’s personal assessments and advices on achieving the best result. The edition is extensively illustrated and features an array of corresponding examples. Lazar Gessen died under unknown circumstances in 1932 and “Book Illustration Design” turned out to be his last work.

Worldcat locates copies at Library of Congress and Bavarian State Library.

Price: $950.00