Legion, a long poem by Gabriel Talphir. Warsaw: "Pratzim", 1925. Hebrew.
The debut book of poet Gabriel Talphir; an impressive Futurist long poem depicting a vision of Hebrew legions conquering Palestine. The cover was designed by Henryk Berlewi (signed in the plate: "H. Berlewi"). At the beginning, a printed note with corrections.
The Jewish-Polish artist Henryk Berlewi (1894-1967) was one of the leading constructivist artists in Poland in the 1920s. He studied art in Warsaw, Antwerp and Paris. During the years 1919-1921, he worked with the artistic and literary avant-garde group Jung Jiddisch. Berlewi designed and illustrated books; especially remembered are his illustrations for books by poets Uri Zvi Greenberg and Peretz Markish. In 1924, Berlewi published a theoretical essay titled "Mechano-Faktura" in which he introduced the artistic method he had developed – using mechanical means to create texture. The "Mechano-Faktura", which is based on arrangements of lines and simple geometric forms, using the colors black, white and red, rejects the illusion of space in favor of two-dimensionality. In late 1920s, Berlewi moved to Paris, where he mainly focused on painting portraits. After World War II, his works were displayed in several large exhibitions in Paris, as well as in Berlin, Warsaw, Zürich and New York.
80 pp. approx. 27.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Ownership stamp on first page. Stains, creases and blemishes to margins of some leaves. Several leaves with tears to inner margins. Worn and slightly stained cover. Tears and missing parts to spine.

Dos Kelbl [The Calf], by Mendele Mocher Sforim. Kiev: Kiyever Farlag, [1919]. Yiddish. Illustrations by Joseph Tchaikov.
A chapter from "Seyfer Habeheymes" (The Book of Beasts), "Dos tosfos yom tov kelbl" (The Tosfos Yom Tov's calf), by Mendele Mocher Sforim, with seven in-text illustrations by Joseph Tchaikov. Title and cover illustration also by Tchaikov.
The logo of the Kiyever Farlag publishing house which appears on the first page and on the back cover was designed by El Lissitzky.
16 pp, approx. 28.5X22.5 cm. Good-fair condition. Unopened pages. Stains. Small tears to edges of leaves. Restored tears to left edge of all leaves. Minor creases. Vertical fold line to all leaves. Blemishes to cover (repairs to spine and edges).
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.

Der Ber [The Bear], by Feter Ben Zion [Benzion Raskin]. Kiev-St. Petersburg: Yiddisher Folks-Farlag, [1919]. From the "Kinder-Garten" series of children's books. Yiddish.
A tale for children, illustrated by El Lissitzky.
In April 1919, El Lissitzky and Benzion Raskin signed a contract with the Yiddisher Folks-Farlag publishing house in Kiev, in which they sold the rights for eleven Yiddish illustrated children's books under the general title "Kinder-Garten". According to the contract, which they most probably signed due to financial distress, they had to accomplish writing and illustrating all eleven books in about five months. Eventually, only three books were published as planned: "Der Ber" [The Bear], "Di Hun vos hot Gevolt hoben a Kam" [The Hen that Wanted a Comb], and "Der Milner, di Milnerin un di Milshtayner" [The Miller, the Miller's Wife and the Millstones]. At the same time, Lissitzky returned to Vitebsk, to teach architecture, painting and graphic arts at the art school directed by Marc Chagall. See: Tradition and Revolution, The Jewish Renaissance in Russian Avant-Garde Art 1912-1928, p. 118.
El (Eliezer Lazar Markovich) Lissitzky (1890-1941), a Jewish-Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer and architect, a prominent and important member of Russian avant-garde.
Lissitzky, an architect by training, contributed much, together with his teacher and friend Kazimir Malevich, to the conceptualization and development of the Supremacist movement – the abstract art focused on geometric forms. He also designed numerous books and journals, exhibitions, and propaganda posters for the communist regime in Russia and influenced the Bauhaus and Constructivist movements in Europe. In his early days, Lissitzky showed much interest in Jewish culture and many of his works integrated Jewish motifs (during the years 1915-1916, he took part in the ethnographic expedition headed by Shlomo An-ski to the Pale of Settlement). Wanting to promote Jewish culture in Russia after the revolution, he became engaged in designing and illustrating Yiddish children's books, creating several children's books which are considered pioneering masterpieces due to their graphics and typography. However, several years later, he abandoned the Jewish motifs in favor of developing a more abstract and universal artistic language.
In 1921, Lissitzky moved to Germany, where he served as the Russian cultural ambassador, engaged in forming connections between Russian and German artists and continued to design books and journals. Lissitzky, who perceived books as immortal artifacts, "monuments of the future" by his definition, used the medium as a tool for spreading the messages of avant-garde and his artistic perception, as indicated by the variety of books in whose design, production or illustration he took part – from children's books and poetry books and to catalogs, guidebooks and academic publications.
Lissitzky died in Moscow at the age of 51. In his final years, his artistic work was dedicated mainly to soviet propaganda; yet it seems that the same worldview accompanied his works throughout his life – the belief in goal-oriented creation (Zielbewußte Schaffen, the German term he coined) and the power of art to influence and bring about change.
10, [2] pp, 19.5 cm. Good condition. Pen notations to first page and inked stamps to three pages. Several minor stains. Minor creases. Very small tears to margins. Slightly loose leaves. Blank card binding, slightly worn.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.

Mayselakh [Tales], by David Roikhel. Kiev: Kultur Lige, 1922. Yiddish. Illustrations by Mark Epstein.
Five tales about rabbits by Aleksander Afanasyev, Vladimir Dal and Hans Christian Andersen, adapted and translated into Yiddish by writer and translator David Roikhel (1890-1941); illustrated by Mark Epstein.
Mark Epstein (1897-1949), graphic artist, painter, sculptor and stage designer, born in Babruysk. He was educated in a traditional cheder and later studied at the Kiev School of Art. In 1918 he studied in the studio of Alexandra Ekster. In the same year he participated in a Jewish artists' exhibition in Moscow and was one of the founders of the art section of Kultur Lige. His artistic style was greatly influenced by his friendship with a group of Kiev-based Modernist writers and poets, including Der Nister (Pinchas Kahanowitz), David Bergelson and Yechezkel Dobrushin.
Epstein continued to work in Kiev even after the establishment of the Soviet government and the communization of the Kultur Lige organizations, while his partners in the art section had chosen to leave the city. During the years 1923-1931, he directed the Jewish Arts and Trades School in Kiev (the new name given to the Art Section of Kultur Lige under communist management). At the same time, he worked as a stage and costume designer for theaters in Kiev and Kharkiv.
In 1932, after the Jewish Arts and Trades School was closed, together with the remaining Kultur Lige organizations, he had to leave Kiev and moved to Moscow. In his last years, he did not participate in exhibitions.
30, [1] pp, 20 cm. Good condition. A few stains. Faded stamp to p. 3. Minor blemishes to cover.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.