[LEFTIST EPIC POEM ABOUT RUSSIAN ANARCHISTS] Ulialaevshchina: Epopeia [i.e. Ulialaev Adventure: Epopée]

Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo, 1930. 160 pp. 18,5x12,5 cm. In original cloth with colored lettering on front cover and spine, with original dust jacket with letterpress design by unknown artist. Dust jacket occasionally repaired, with tears and small losses of edges, but book is in fine condition.

Second, revised and enlarged edition. One of 3000 copies. Very rare. Dust jacket displays an expressive, 'dancing' design of the title consisting of black and white letters printed on the red background. This is the only constructivist design produced for 'Ulialaevshchina' editions.

This is the early version of the most successful epic poem by constructivist poet Il'ia Sel'vinskii (1899-1968). The text was first published in 1927. Initially, the author wrote about the fortunes of a
kulak Ulialaev who was defeated by the Red Army during an anarchist kulaks' rebellion. And this character was described more expressive than the Communists. In the late 1920s, this leftist poem was performed by the popular chansonnier and comic actor Mikhail Savoyarov, reciting the text in the costume and aesthetics of the 'Blue Blouse' theater. In 1956, Sel'vinskii had rewritten the text and its main character became Lenin.

MoMA 920. Blium 'Prohibited books of Russian writers and literary scholars
1917-1991' #424.

Worldcat shows the only copies in University of California.