Oblako v Shtanakh. Tetraptikh. [The Cloud in Trousers. A Tetraptych].

Petrograd, Gramotnost, 1915. . First edition; small 8vo (17 x 13 cm); 63pp.; ink Cyrillic ownership inscription on title-page dated 'March 1916', monogram stamp to verso of front wrapper, slight wear to right lower corner of pages; original printed orange wrappers with minor repairs, otherwise in excellent condition.
first edition of one of Mayakovsky's major works.

Heavily modified, the poet's revolutionary sentiments were not accepted by the Imperial censor, who requested the original title The Thirteenth Apostle be changed. Despite not being the complete version, the text was incredibly popular and Mayakovsky wrote in his introduction to a later edition that the text is 'a catechism for contemporary art'. The work is dedicated to his muse Lilya Brik, wife of his publisher and life-long friend Osip Brik. Mayakovsky was not discrete with his admiration for Lilya and the two had a passionate affair lasting six years.

Filipp Matveevich Vermel', a poet, translator and contemporary of Mayakovsky published his work in Futurist journals under the pseudonym D. Varavvin. A collection of his own poems titled Kovsh [bucket] was published in 1923 but he later chose to focus on translation rather than writing verse. Unfortunately, as Stalin's purges took a grip of the Moscow literary circle, Vermel' was arrested on charges of spying. He was shot 11 days later.