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[A SOVIET ANTIRELIGIOUS PLAY] Durman: Vodevil’ v tryokh kartinakh [i.e. A Spell: A Vaudeville in 3 Acts]

Rumyantsev, T.

Item #2516

Moscow; Leningrad: izd-vo “MODP i K”, 1929 ([Moskva]: tip. prom. koop. t-va “Rabochiy kommunar”). 24 pp. 20×13,5 cm. In original publisher’s illustrated wrappers. Restored, few small stains, otherwise very good.

Scarce. First edition. 1 of 6,000 copies. Wrapper design by an unknown artist.
A vaudeville in 3 acts written by the Soviet journalist Timofey Rumyantsev (1886-?) at the dawn of antireligious propaganda (1928–1941) in the USSR. The text tells the story of two devout women, Agafya and Marya, who seek help from monks and palmists in an effort to achieve their desires: Agafya wishes to seduce a man she likes, and Marya tries to convert her atheist husband to Orthodoxy. Soon both women realize that they were scammed by swindlers disguised as priests and palmists.
The Russian Orthodox Church was the main target of the antireligious campaign in the 1920s and 1930s. Nearly all of its clergy, and many of its believers, were shot or sent to labor camps. More than 85,000 Orthodox priests were shot in 1937 alone. In the period between 1927 and 1940, the number of Orthodox Churches in the RSFSR fell from 29,584 to less than 500.

The book represents an important document of the USSR’s efforts to eliminate religion in the 1920s.

Worldcat shows the only copy of the edition at New York Public Library.

Price: $750.00