Two books with covers illustrated by the artist Iosif Moisevich Chaikov (or Tchaikov, 1888-1979) – Kiev-born Jewish sculptor, graphic artist, painter, educator, and theoretician.
1. In Shṭurem fun Geshikhṭe: Aroysgerisene Bleṭlakh fun Tog-Bukh, 1914-1921 [In the Storm of History, Pages Torn from a Diary, 1914-21], by David Koigen. Translated from German by Zelig Kalmanovitch. Berlin: Yidisher Liṭerarisher Farlag, 1923. Yiddish. Cover design: Iosif Chaikov.
Excerpts from the personal diary of David Koigen, providing eyewitness accounts of historical events in Eastern Europe in the years 1914-21, including the outbreak of World War I, the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, the pogroms targeting Ukrainian Jewry, and the author's personal story of his escape from the Soviet Union following the conquest of Ukraine. The front cover features an illustration by Iosif Chaikov.
247, [1] pp., 18.5 cm. Good condition. Few stains to book block. Stains to cover. Minor tears to cover, professionally restored.
2. Bereshis Aleph [Genesis I] (no additional parts published). Moscow-Leningrad, 1926. Berlin: Gutenberg Press. "Title Page Illustration by Iosif Chaikov. Publisher's Logo by B. Schubin."
Literary anthology including works by Isaac Babel, Yocheved Bat-Miriam, Gershon Hanowitz, and others. Front page illustration by Iosif Chaikov.
The contributing authors were unable to find a printing press in the Soviet Union willing to publish a Hebrew book, and the manuscript was therefore sent to Berlin for printing. Of the copies printed, only a handful were legally allowed to be brought into the Soviet Union.
[1], 199, [5] pp., 23 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor tears and creases to edges of cover. Inked stamps. Original cover, partly detached.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.

Уот Уитмэн, поэзия грядущей демократии / Уот Уитмэн и его "Листья травы" [Walt Whitman – Poetry of Approaching Democracy / Walt Whitman and his "Leaves of Grass"], by Korney Chukovsky. Moscow-Petrograd (Moscow-St. Petersburg): Государственное издательство [State Publisher], 1923. Russian. Cover illustration: Evgeny Belukha (Евгений Дмитриевич Белуха).
Anthology of articles by the Russian author and children's poet Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky (1882-1969) on the subject of American poet Walt Whitman and his work, alongside translations of selected poems from Whitman's famous book "Leaves of Grass." The author's translation of poems from "Leaves of Grass" was a groundbreaking milestone in exposing and familiarizing the Russian public with Whitman's poetry. A portrait of Whitman appears opposite the title page.
The illustration on the cover is the work of Russian artist, illustrator, and graphic designer Evgeny Dmitrievich Belukha (1889-1943). It shows the American "Stars and Stripes" juxtaposed with the Red Flag of the Russian Revolution, with both superimposed over the backdrop of an urban landscape. This symbolism points to the connection of some of the poems in "Leaves of Grass" to the theme of urbanization.
[1] portrait plate., 165, [2] pp., 23.5 cm. Book block in very good condition. Cover in good condition. Minor tears to cover and spine. Few stains. Front cover and spine partly detached from book block.
Provenance: The Uzi Agassi Collection.