"Sichas Chulin, Eine fun di Geshichten", a tale by Moishe Broderzon, illustrated by Eliezer (El) Lissitzky. Moscow: Наше Искусство [Nashe Iskustvo ("Our Art, " first name of the artists' group Шомир ("Shomir")], 1917. First edition; in form of a scroll. Yiddish (with colophon in Russian).
"Sichas Chulin" ("Small Talk" or "The Legend of Prague") was written as a Modernist adaptation of the folk tale "Ma'aseh Yerushalmi" ("A Jerusalem Tale"), a story of the marriage of the Jew R. Yonah to the daughter of Ashmedai (Asmodeus), King of the Demons, with the setting of the story moved to the Jewish Ghetto of Prague. The design of this publication – Lissitzky's first significant work in book design – was inspired by illustrated Jewish scrolls, while at the same time integrating modernist elements. The text was written entirely by a Jewish scribe ("sofer stam"), in square Hebrew letters, and was illustrated throughout (illustrations incorporating human figures, animals, and architectural structures) a format resembling that of Esther scrolls. The title page illustration shows three figures representing the creators of this scroll, namely Lissitzky, Broderzon, and the scribe, and a fourth figure – the main character of the story being lifted upward in the talons of a large bird.
"Sichas Chulin" was printed in a limited edition of 110 copies. Most of the copies were bound as regular books, but a small number (according to a prospectus published by Shomir Press, no more than 20) were put together in the form of scrolls and inserted into wooden cases. Most of the known copies in scroll form were numbered and hand-colored. The present copy is uncolored and unnumbered.
Moishe Broderzon (1890-1956), poet, playwright, and founder of a number of prominent artists' groups in Eastern Europe, including the "Yung-Yiddish" avant-guarde group, the Ararat Theater of Lodz, and the world's first Yiddish marionette theater, "Had Gadya." In 1916, Broderzon was one of the founders of the "Circle for Jewish National Aesthetic" artists' group in Moscow known as "Shomir, " after a legendary worm-like creature capable of breaking apart any material (according to Jewish tradition, this creature was responsible for cutting the precious stones of the priestly breastplate, as well as the building blocks of Jerusalem's Great Temple). The group was headed by the art collector and patron of the arts Yakov Kagan-Shabshai, and among its members were Eliezer (El) Lissitzky, Issachar Ber Ryback, Polia Chentoff (Polina Chentova), and Avrohom Efros. "Sichas Chulin" was the group's first published work. Broderzon's oeuvre includes a host of poems and plays, many of which were dedicated to Jewish topics. Among other works, Broderzon created the libretto for "Dovid un Bas Sheva, " the first Yiddish opera to appear onstage in Poland, as well as the acclaimed epic poem "Yud, " which deals with the impending calamity about to befall European Jewry. Many of Broderzon's books were products of a collaboration with other Jewish artists, including designers, painters, and photographers. These collaborations gave rise to several books illustrated and designed in a host of different styles.
Alongside "Had Gadya" (see following item), "Sichas Chulin" is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century's finest examples of illustrated Yiddish books.

[17] pages (title page, fifteen pp. of text and colophon), glued one to the other. Entire scroll mounted onto linen. Height: 21.5 cm. Length (entire scroll): approx. 383 cm. Overall good condition. First leaf (title page) cropped at edge, along border of illustration (with minor damage to illustration). Stains (some dark). Creases. Some minor tears.
Missing original wooden case (substitute wooden case enclosed).

Reference: Alexander Kantsedikas, El Lissitzky: The Jewish Period, 1905 – 1923. London: Unicorn, 2017.
See also:
• Ruth Apter-Gabriel, curator and ed., Tradition and Revolution, The Jewish Renaissance in Russian Avant-Garde Art, 1912-1928, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, 1987, no. 72.
• Nina Gurianova et al., The Russian Avant-Garde Book, 1910-1934, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2002, no. 155.
• Index of Jewish Art, Gross Family Collection, Jerusalem, Centre of Jewish Art, 1985, Part One: Objects, pp. 723-767.
This scroll is documented at the Center for Jewish Art (CJA), item 248530.
Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv, 082.011.001.