"Himlen in Opgrunt" ["Heavens in the Abyss"], by Chaim Krul (Krol). Lodz: Achrid, 1921. Yiddish, with an additional title page in Polish. Linocuts by Esther Karp.

A volume of poetry by Chaim Krul. The entire book – cover, illustrations, and text – is filled with linocut watercolor illustrations by Esther Karp. Illustrations created in watercolor. Copy No. 72 from an edition of 200 numbered copies. The title page bears a personal dedication, handwritten by the artist (in Yiddish): "[To] the dear Alia Tcherniak, from Esther, Warsaw, July 14, 1922".

Esther Karp (1897-1970) was born in Skierniewice, Poland. Her father, Lipman Karp, owned a photography studio. After graduating from the local gymnasium (high school), Karp moved to Vienna to study painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. In the early 1920s, following her graduation from the academy, she moved to Lodz and became a member of the "Yung-Yiddish" group. Karp continued her career as a painter after moving to Paris in 1925. She suffered from emotional disorders for much of her life, and spent her last years hospitalized at the Ste. Anne psychiatric hospital in Paris.

The Achrid publishing house in Lodz was also responsible for publishing other books designed by "Yung-Yiddish" artists, including a volume of poetry by Rachel Lipstein with linocuts by Dinah Matus (see Kedem Auction Catalogue No. 56, Lot 154).