Collection of Trial Proofs of Illustrations for the Books "The Miller, the Milleress and the Millstones" and "Four ...

Collection of Trial Proofs of Illustrations for the Books "The Miller, the Milleress and the Millstones" and "Four Billy Goats" / Draft of a Translation of the book "The Miller, the Milleress and the Millstones" / Leaves from the Prepress Process of the Book "Di Hun vos hot Gevolt hoben a Kam" – Illustrations by El Lissitzky and Uriel Kahana
Collection of trial proofs, prepress leaves and a draft of the translation of children's books by Benzion Raskin. Illustrations by El Lissitzky and Uriel Kahana. [Kiev, 1919 / Warsaw, 1922].
1. "Der Milner, di Milnerin un di Milshtayner" / "The Miller, the Milleress and the Millstones":
• 31 trial proofs (including many duplicates) of illustrations by El Lissitzky for the book "Der Milner, di Milnerin un di Milshtayner" ("The Miller, the Milleress and the Millstones"), published in Kiev in 1919 by the Yiddisher Folks-Farlag publishing house.
• Trial proof of a leaf from the book "Der Milner, di Milnerin un di Milshtayner" (including the text) with felt-tipped pen corrections in one of the illustrations.
• Three trial proofs of the logo of the series "Gan Yeladim" – "Kinder-Garten" (as part of which the book "The Miller, the Milleress and the Millstones" was printed in its Hebrew edition by Tarbut publishing house, Warsaw, 1922), designed by El Lissitzky. One of the prints is hand-finished, with additions of paint and paper strips.
• Four double-page spreads which constitute the book "Der Milner, di Milnerin un di Milshtayner". Attached to some of the pages are notes with a Hebrew translation of parts of the story, differing from the printed Hebrew version. This is presumably a draft from the translation process of the book by the writer, Benzion Raskin, who wrote his early books in Yiddish and translated them into Hebrew himself.
2. "Di Hun vos hot Gevolt hoben a Kam" ("The Hen that Wanted a Comb"):
Five leaves of text from the prepress process of the book "Di Hun vos hot Gevolt hoben a Kam" [Kiev: Yiddisher Folks-Farlag, 1919], which was illustrated by El Lissitzky. The leaves, numbered 2, 4, 6, 10, 13, are mounted with printed paper strips containing text from the book. These leaves are all the non-illustrated leaves of the book and the text layout is identical to the printed version, with minor typographic differences. On verso are stamps of the "Yiddisher Folks-Farlag, Kooperative Gezelshaft" publishing house, as well as a handwritten inscription: "Lissitzky, Di Hun vos hot Gevolt hoben a Kam".
3. "Four Billy Goats":
27 trial proofs (including duplicates) of illustrations by Uriel Kahana for the book "Four Billy Goats" (Warsaw: Tarbut, 1922), with the logo of the series "Tzil-Tzlil" of the Tarbut publishing house which published the book. Several of the illustrations appearing in the book are not represented in this collection.
A total of 71 leaves. Size and condition vary. Good to fair overall condition. Closed and open tears, creases. Fold lines. Stains. Pen and pencil notations. Several illustrations are in fair-poor condition: some with large open tears affecting the illustration and others with mold and paint stains.
Provenance: The Uriel Kahana Collection.