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[HOW TO DESIGN A BOOK] Osnovy oformleniya sovetskoy knigi [i.e. Basics of the Soviet Book Design]

Istrin, V., Pakhomov, V., Nazarov, A.

Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1956. Item #896

502 pp., 3 tables: ill. 26.6x18.1cm. In original publisher’s cloth with lettering on the front cover and spine. Dust-wrapper. Fine.

First edition. Scarce. One of the most comprehensive Soviet editions to meticulously analyze and interpret peculiarities of book design and technical editing.

Written by a collective of 15 authors, the book consists of 3 sections: Elements and means of book design; Design features of various types of publications; Methodology of artistic and technical editing. The first chapter offers a detailed examination of the most important elements in book structure: ornaments, illustrations, fonts, headpieces, tables, etc. The authors pay particular attention to the proper ways of the image arrangement and offer multiple examples of the successful disposition of illustrations from the Soviet practice. The narrative is grounded on the concept of the indissoluble link between book design, technical editing and content of the edition. Consequently, analysis of each and every element of the book design presented in this work puts the type of edition as its starting point. The second chapter of the book expands on the design features of specific editions: Scientific publications, Textbooks, Fiction, Editions compiled by the founders of the Marxism-Leninism, Editions for Children, Guidebooks, Directories, Editions on Art and Architecture, etc. The authors differentiate book
design techniques for each of the aforementioned publications and provide contrasting guidelines on the choice of fonts, illustrations, format, etc. The final chapter elaborates on the technical and artistic editing of the book and features information on various stages of the process: layout of the edition, work with artist, control of the publishing process, galley proof, etc. In the edition, the authors reject constructivist and futurist practices in the Soviet experience, christening them as “the ridiculous grimacing” for the use of photomontages/experiments with fonts and offer reference on the design of proletarian editions alone. The book features numerous illustrations depicting principles of book design in practice and includes 3 folding plans of standard book formats/margins and the most typical letters of typefaces.

This work was prepared by the print design laboratory of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of the Printing Industry and Technology of the Glavpolygraphprom of the USSR Ministry of Culture with the involvement of specialists in the theory and practice of book design - scientists, teachers of relevant educational disciplines and practitioners from central publishing houses: A.I. Nazarov, V.V. Pakhomov, V.A. Istrin, A.G. Shitsgal, N.YA. Karavanskiy, A.A. Sidorov, B.D. Il’inskiy, B.M. Kisin, G.A. Vinogradov, G.K. Pismannik, B.M. Kisin, B.I. Brodskiy, I.F.
Bel’chikov, V.A. Markus, B.A. Somorov.

Price: $350.00