MEZHLAUK, V.I. (editor-in-chief); LISSITZKY, El and Es (design)

USSR in Construction. 1937, No.3 (March)

Moscow: State Publishing House of Graphic Arts, 1937. First Edition. Folio (41.5cm); photo-illustrated card wrappers, stapled; [36]pp; illus., with three illustrated plates tipped onto thicker stock in-text, and three panoramic fold-out plates designed by Es and El Lissitzky; text is in English. Light wear along spine fold and extremities, else Near Fine, with all plates intact.

Well-preserved issue of this landmark Soviet art magazine, issued from 1930 to 1941 to celebrate the achievements of the first two Five Year Plans and (through various foreign-language editions) to propagandize the stark contrast between the vibrant Soviet economy during this period and the stagnation of Western economies under capitalism. "All the visual strategies of the propaganda photobooks, designed by Lissitsky, Rodchenko and others...were developed in USSR in Construction, one of the most beautifully produced magazines of the twentieth century" (Parr-Badger, The Photobook, I:148).

The present issue is devoted to the various people groups of the Caucasus region, their history, industries and accomplishments. A superior copy of a desirable issue.

Price: $750.00

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