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[ALEKSEI KRUCHYONYKH – LIFETIME EDITION] Golodnyak: [Stikhi] [i.e. Hunger: [Verses]]

Kruchyonykh, A.

Moscow: Tip. TSIT, 1922. Item #997

[24] pp. 12,8x17,7 cm. In original publisher’s printed wrappers. Fine.

Rare especially in such pristine condition. First edition. One of 1000 copies.

AN EXTREMELY RARE COLLECTION OF ZAUM VERSES BY THE WELL-KNOWN RUSSIAN FUTURIST ALEKSEI KRUCHYONYKH (1886-1968). The author went down in the history of Russian literature as a radical avant-garde poet, who together with fellow writers and artists formed the core of the modernist movement. In the early 1910s Kruchyonykh and Velimir Khlebnikov (1885-1922) invented the Zaum language, which became one of the leading trends in Russian futurism. In the following years the author published a number of works incorporating elements of the newly developed language, including Pomada [i.e. Lipstick] (1913), Vzorval’ [i.e. Explosion] (1913), Golodnyak [i.e. Hunger] (1922), etc. The latter came out during the Great Russian Famine of 1921-1922 and focused on the harsh reality of the time. The majority of the verses presented in the collection were dedicated to the problem of hunger, with one particular verse Golod [i.e. Hunger] touching upon the topic of family cannibalism (a mother feeds her children with human flash). The edition became a sensation causing controversial reviews among readers and critics. In a couple of years, when the Socialist Realism was proclaimed the official style of art in the Soviet Union, Kruchyonykh was forced to move away from literature and maintain himself by selling rare books and manuscripts.

Overall, an extremely scarce collection of verses by the prolific Russian futurist.

Worldcat shows copies of the edition in the University of California, Getty Research Institute, University of Missouri, Harvard College Library, Amherst College Library, British Library, and National Library of France.

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