Collection of Books with Illustrations by Mendel Gorshman

Collection of Books with Illustrations by Mendel Gorshman

Collection of books with covers and illustrations by Mendel Gorshman. Moscow and Leningrad, 1930-1947. Russian and Yiddish.

• Чудо св. Лариция [The Miracle of St. Laritia], six stories by Olga Guryan. Moscow-Leningrad: Государственное издательство, 1930. Illustrations by Mendel Gorshman; cover illustrated by artist Meir Axelrod (1902-1970).

• Сын сапожника [The Shoemaker's Son], by Semyon (Shlomo) Gekht. Moscow: Молодая гвардия, 1931. Pencil dedication on first page by the author, to "Kormaed Chiger", Jewish-Russain artist Efim Chiger (Ефим Яковлевич Хигер; 1899-1955), and original pencil illustration on last page.

• Конармия [Red Cavalry], by Isaac Babel. [Moscow]: Государственное издательство художественной литературы, 1933. Portrait of the author illustrated by Vladimir Milashevsky.

• Повесть о рыжем Мотэле, Господине Инспекторе, Раввине Исайе и Комиссаре Блох [A Tale of Red-Haired Motele, Mr. Inspector, Rabbi Isaiah and Commissar Bloch], a poem by Joseph Utkin. Moscow: OGIZ - Молодая гвардия, 1933 (on cover – 1934).

- Enclosed: Copy from an earlier edition of the book: [Kharkov]: Пролетарий, [1928]. Cover and illustrations by Adolf Strakhov.

• Shir-Hashirim, mayn ershter roman, Ester [Song of Songs, My First Novel, Esther], a youth novel by Sholem Aleichem. Moscow: Ogiz Melukhe-Farlag "Der Emes", 1947. Yiddish (in Soviet Russian orthography).

• Счастье привалило [Good Fortune Has Come], by Sholem Aleichem. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe Izdatelstvo Khudozhestvennoi Literatury, 1959. Two identical copies. Dedication on the endpaper.

• Неунывающие: рассказы, by Sholem Aleichem. Moscow: Izdatelstvo khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1965. With the original dust jacket.

Mendel Gorshman (Мендель Хаимович Горшман; 1902-1972), Soviet-Jewish graphic artist, illustrator and painter, born to a traditional Jewish family in Borisov, Minsk region, Belarus. Studied at Yakob Kruger's art school in Minsk, later at Nikolai Kupreyanov's art workshop in Kostroma and in the graphics department of Vkhutemas in Moscow.

Member of several Soviet art groups, including OST (OCT) and "Four Arts" (Четыре искусства). Worked for several important publishing houses in Russia, illustrating works by major Jewish writers and poets including Isaac Babel, Sholem Aleichem, I.L. Peretz, Mendele Mocher Sforim, Peretz Markish and others. His illustrations also accompanied several classic works of Russian literature. His works were exhibited over the years in several important exhibitions in the Soviet Union and abroad and are now preserved in important collections and museums in Russia, including the Pushkin Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

Six books and booklets. Size and condition vary.