Bukvar, First Edition (5 results)

4to. Pp. 66. With text in Cyrillic and Arabic types. Later grey paper wrappers. Stamp on title page. Ownership signature (E. Henderson) on front pastedown. First edition of the first primer of the Tatar language, a Turkic language mainly spoken in modern Tatarstan (European Russia) and Siberia. (Not to be confused with Crimean Tatar or Siberian Tatar which are closely related but belong to different subgroups of the Kipchak languages). Rare.Compiled by Niyat Bka Atnometev a Siberian Tatar under the guidance of the priest Iosif Ivanovich Giganov (1764-1800?). Giganov was a teacher at the Tobolsk Seminar and is considered the founder of the modern Tatar dialectology school. He compiled the first Tatar grammar and Russian-Tatar dictionary, published in 1801 and 1804 respectively, posthumously.Provenance: We assume it has belonged to Ebenezer Henderson (1784-1858), Scottish minister and linguist who in 1822 was invited to assist the Russian Bible Society in translations of the Bible into different languages spoken in the Russian empire). Not in Loewenthal, The Turkic Languages of Central Asia.

First edition, 8vo (21.2 x 16.6 cm); [2], 38 p., 6 leaves of the thicker paper, restoration to title-page; in later plain covers, strengthened with mica paper, small stain on the title page, a very good copy. Extremely rare edition, a lucky survivor in the original state: the 6 carton leaves at the back of the block was intended for cut-outs of the letters for learning purposes. Only known copy is held at the Russian National Library. The bukvar was published during the Civil War as part of an initiative aimed at eradicating illiteracy while promoting communist ideology. Printed in Kharkiv, where Soviet power had been established since late 1919 (following the entry of Red Army troops on December 12, 1919, and the formation of the Southwestern Front on January 10, 1920), the primer is notable for its agitational content. The first 23 pages feature revolutionary slogans such as 'We were slaves', 'We are not slaves, 'We won', 'Victory brought freedom', and 'We will build a new world', presented in both printed and cursive forms. Each slogan is accompanied by a woodcut illustration. Additionally, the primer contains significant political information addressing topics like 'Where does the capitalist extract profits?' and 'What is Soviet power?'. The book concludes with all six separate cardboard sheets of the cut-out alphabet still intact. Each page features 24 poster-like woodcuts by an anonymous artist. The style of these illustrations resemble the works of Dmitrii Moor at the time, as well as Kharkiv-based Vasyl Yermilov. These woodcuts are important examples of a very short-lived style in Bolshevik book design: the Socialist lubok.

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. I.V. Val'ter (illustrator). 1st Edition. Quarto 26x18 cm., wrappers, 121 pp. I.V. Val'ter, cover & illus. A grammar and writing primer for Nenets people in the Nenets Autonomous Okrug, published by the Educational and Pedagogical Department. Nenets is an Uralic language distantly related to the Finnic language group. G.N. Prokof'ev (1897-1942) was a Russian ethnographer who worked on languages and cultures of Siberia, particularly of the Enets and Selkup people. This grammar, like many that were distributed in minority languages of the USSR, is heavily laced with propaganda to inculcate young readers from an early age with Marxist-Leninist world views that was inseparable from language and learning. The Nenets are also known as Samoyeds or Yuraks who live in the far north of the Arkhangelsk Oblast. This is a rare work, with only one institutional holding found worldwide in microform (Columbia). A very fine copy.

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. unattributed (illustrator). 1st Edition. Quarto 26x18 cm., wrappers, 78pp. . A grammar for elementary school students in the Mansy language. The Khanty-Mansy (aka Ostyak-Vogul) people are a Finno-Ugric speaking minority in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Region of the Western Siberian Plain. This primer, like all those issued to minority peoples and Russian readers alike of the era, is a propagandistic device to inculcate Soviet psychological and societal programs in the minds of the youth from the beginning with the acquisition of literacy. OCLC locates one holding worldwide, (NYPL) but not found in their catalog. A fine copy.

Hardcover. Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. Keine ausfuehrliche Beschreibung fuer Ivan Fedorovs Griechisch-Russisch/Kirchenslawisches Lesebuch von 1578 und der Gothaer Bukvar von 1578/1580 verfuegbar.