"Zoo, or Letters Not About Love", by Viktor Shklovsky – Two Editions – Berlin and Leningrad, 1923 and 1924 – Covers ...

"Zoo, or Letters Not About Love", by Viktor Shklovsky – Two Editions – Berlin and Leningrad, 1923 and 1924 – Covers Designed by El Lissitzky

"Zoo, or Letters Not About Love", by Viktor Shklovsky (Виктор Борисович Шкловский; 1893-1984) – First and second editions of the epistolary novel, portraying the correspondence between Viktor Shklovsky, a Russian-Jewish writer and literary researcher and one of the prominent figures of the Russian Formalism movement, and his lover Elsa Triolet (Эльза Триоле), a Jewish-French writer (wife of the writer Louis Aragon).

The first edition was published during Shklovsky's exile from Russia, when he lived in Berlin near the zoo; the second edition, slightly revised and shortened, was printed shortly after his return to Russia. On the last page is printed a letter of request from Shklovsky to the Soviet authorities, asking permission to return to his homeland. Covers designed by El Lissitzky (Эль Лисицкий).

1. ZOO или письма не о любви. Berlin: Геликон, 1923. Russian. First edition. The cover features a slightly different version of the title: Zoo Письма не о любви или Третья Элоиза ["Zoo, or Letters Not About Love or The Third Heloise" – Heloise, a well-known historical figure from the 12th century, who exchanged love letters with the French philosopher Abelard; her figure bears a symbolic connection to Elsa Triolet, Shklovsky's lover].

109, [1] pages. 21 cm. Good condition. Light stains and creases. Uneven page cutting. Tears and light wear to edges of cover and spine, partially restored with adhesive tape and paper filling.

2. Zoo или Письма не о любви. Leningrad: Атеней, 1924. Russian. Second edition. Cover of the first edition, by the Berlin publisher Геликон, designed by Lissitzky.

96 pages. 23.5 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains and wear. Creases and tears to page edges. Inscriptions (long pen inscriptions in margins of several pages). Most pages detached from each other and from the cover. Spine torn and mostly missing.

El (Eliezer Lazar Markovich) Lissitzky (Лазарь Маркович "Эль" Лисицкий; 1890-1941), Jewish-Russian artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer and architect, one of the most prominent and important members of the Russian avant-garde.

Lissitzky, an architect by training, contributed much, together with his teacher and friend Kazimir Malevich, to the conceptualization and development of the Suprematism movement – the abstract art focused on geometric forms. He also designed numerous books and journals, exhibitions, and propaganda posters for the communist regime in Russia and influenced the Bauhaus and Constructivist movements in Europe. In his early days, Lissitzky showed much interest in the Jewish culture and many of his works integrated Jewish motifs (during the years 1915-1916, he took part in the ethnographic expedition headed by S. An-sky to various Jewish settlements). Wanting to promote Jewish culture in Russia after the revolution, he became engaged in designing and illustrating Yiddish children's books, creating several children's books which are considered pioneering masterpieces due to their graphics and typography. However, several years later, he abandoned the Jewish motifs in favor of developing a more abstract and universal artistic language.

In 1921, Lissitzky moved to Germany, where he served as the Russian cultural ambassador, engaged in forming connections between Russian and German artists and continued to design books and journals; there he also created some of his most well-known works in the field of book design, including the issues of the journal "Veshch/Gegenstand/Objet", which he founded together with the writer Ilya Ehrenburh and a volume of poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Lissitzky, who perceived books as immortal artifacts, "monuments of the future" by his definition, used the medium as a tool for spreading the messages of avant-garde and his artistic perception, as indicated by the variety of books in whose design, production or illustration he took part – beginning with children's books and books of poetry and ending with catalogs, guidebooks and research books.

Lissitzky died in Moscow at the age of 51. In his final years, his artistic work was dedicated mainly to soviet propaganda; yet it seems that the same worldview accompanied his works throughout his life – the belief in goal-oriented creation (Zielbewußte Schaffen, the German term he coined) and the power of art to influence and bring about change.