Поход "Челюскина" [The Voyage of the Chelyuskin] / Как мы спасали челюскинцев [How We Rescued the Chelyuskin Crew]. Moscow: Издание Редакции "Правды", 1934. Russian. Three volumes.

Three volumes in a limited edition telling the story of the Soviet ship Chelyuskin (see below). Accompanied by pictures and prints, some in color, by Solomon Telingater (Соломон Телингатер; 1903-1969), P. Freinberg (Фрейнберг), and N. Sedelnikov (Седельников).

The first two volumes relate the story of the ship's voyage on the Northern Sea Route, the disaster in which the ship was trapped in ice and sank, and the heroic survival of the crew members, while the third volume covers the daring aerial rescue operation in which they were saved.

The Voyage of the Chelyuskin

The SS Chelyuskin (Челю́скин) was a Soviet ship designed for sailing in icy waters; in August 1933, the ship set out on a voyage along the Northern Sea Route, from Leningrad to Vladivostok (the ship's Arctic voyage proper beginning in Murmansk), unaccompanied by an icebreaker, with 111 crew members and passengers on board, among whom women and children. In February 1934, the ship was caught in ice and sank in the Chukchi Sea, and one crew member perished.

The crew members on board set up camp in the ice field, and in early March the women and children were rescued in a complex and daring aerial operation. The men prepared a landing strip with the basic means at their disposal and were evacuated by air train during April.

In Soviet "mythology", the Chelyuskin ship became a symbol of resilience and endurance and the Soviet person's willingness to struggle and overcome any challenge. The pilots who participated in the search and rescue operations were the first to be awarded the highest honor recently established in the Soviet Union, "Hero of the Soviet Union".

Volume I: [4] leaves, 471, [5] pages + [8] plates + [3] maps; Volume II: [4] leaves, 471, [1] pages + [11] plates (some folding) + [1] map; Volume III: [4] leaves, 403, [1] pages + [11] plates + [1] map. 24.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Minor tears to margins of some leaves (including one open tear), not affecting text. One map detached. Handsome Bakelite bindings. Minor wear and blemishes to bindings and spine (spine of first volume detached).

Solomon Telingater (Соломо́н Бенеди́ктович Телинга́тер; 1903-1969), born in Tbilisi, he studied art in Baku and Moscow, worked in book design and typography and was a member of the "October Group", along with El Lissitzky and Alexander Rodchenko. In 1963, he won the Johann Gutenberg Prize for his work, becoming the first Soviet artist to receive this award.