Lot 439: LISSITZKY -- MAYAKOVSKY, Vladimir Vladimirovich (1893-1930) and Lazar Markovich 'EL' LISSITSKY (1890-1941). Dlia Golosa . [For the Voice.] Moscow and Berlin: Lutze & Vogt for the State Publishing House, 1923. 8° (187 x 130mm). Half-tone title

LISSITZKY -- MAYAKOVSKY, Vladimir Vladimirovich (1893-1930) and Lazar Markovich 'EL' LISSITSKY (1890-1941). Dlia Golosa. [For the Voice.] Moscow and Berlin: Lutze & Vogt for the State Publishing House, 1923. 8° (187 x 130mm). Half-tone title printed in black and red, 24 illustrations printed in black and red, all after Lissitsky, leaves with fore-edges cut to form index tabs. (Some soiling and staining, rear hinge split but holding.) Original printed orange wrappers after Lissitsky (some staining and soiling, spine ends chipped, some wear).

FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AND WELL-REALISED CONSTRUCTIVIST COLLABORATIONS, and one of Lissitzky's most famous designs. A book of 'extraordinary inventiveness' in which Lissitzky 'invented bold red and black pictograms, mixing letters and abstract motifs, to visually project the exuberant and exclamatory nature of Mayakovsky's poems. Furthermore, since Mayakovsky's volume of poetry was meant for recitation, Lissitsky's invention of a thumb-tab index for ease in finding each poem epitomizes the notion of the book as functional object' (MoMA). From Manet to Hockney 68; Artists' Books in the Modern Era 41; MoMA, The Russian Avant-Garde Book, p.54 & 478.