By Helena Drake

Two almost-identical Russian children’s books are held in the Cotsen Children’s Library, though a closer look at their pages shows that one of them is particularly special. These books were published in 1921 in Paris and have two titles: the title of the first page is “For Russian Children” (Русскимъ Дѣтямъ), and the cover title a few pages later is “Russian Folk Tales, Songs and Jokes” (НАРОДНЫЯ РУССІЯ, СКАЗКИ ПѢСНИ ЩУТКИ). They share a collection of colorful illustrations accompanying small texts, and a final page with the place of publishing as well as the name of the artist, Aleksandr Shervashidze, and the editor, N. I. Butkovskai︠a︡.

A glance at the cover of each book and their pages shows that while the material is the same, their coloring is different. This first version has a decorated cover colored primarily in blue. The second is mostly red, with lighter blue accents. The blue version contains several blank pages before the second title page, one of them with a short text printed in French. This text reads, “Trente exemplaires colorés et signés par l'artiste sont numérotés de 1 à 30,” noting that this book is part of a rare group of materials published–one of thirty copies signed and colored by the artist himself. This note is followed by a handwritten “№ 8,” indicating that this book is the eighth copy the artist signed, then Shervashidze’s signature and the year.
 

This note is absent in the red version, which does not state who colored the illustrations. These books have completely different coloring, and the one signed by Shervashidze shows more careful attention to detail and illustration. Compare the following illustrations of a woman and two children watching light stream from the clouds. The signed version shows the sophisticated coloring with the highlight of wood on the boat, the layering of multiple colors in the clouds, and the shading of the woman’s dress. The version that is not signed by the artist is much simpler, using one color for the boat, one color for the clouds, and one for the dress. The page depicting a woman with a sheep particularly shows how the unsigned version often leaves portions of the illustrations uncolored, and with less detail than its signed counterpart.

What is perhaps most interesting about these books, however, is not in the illustrations, but the text on the final page. The final pages of both books state, in French, that they were printed “A Paris” [sic] at “Imprimerie Zemgor.” The fact that these books “for Russian children” were printed in Paris raises questions as to how they were distributed–whether locally for Russian émigrés living in Paris, or shipped to Russia and distributed there. These books follow the orthography prior to the 1918 reform, perhaps indicating these were not for distribution in Russia. Further, “Imprimerie Zemgor” suggests these books were indeed for émigrés, as Zemgor was active in Paris at that time with the purpose of aiding Russian refugees. The emphasis of these books on these being for Russian children perhaps also supports this was for a population isolated from their home country. 

These books have research potential for investigations into publishing at the beginning of the Soviet Era, foreign relations relative to publishing, Zemgor, Russian identity abroad, and Russian identity in children’s literature. They are currently available in Special Collections, as well as for digital viewing on the Princeton University Library website.