• 03. [A 1922 Masterpiece of Modernist Illustrated Yiddish Children's Lit] Roykhel, David [Roychel]. Illustrated by M. Epshteyn [Mark Epstein] [Adapted from Aleksander Afanasyev, Vladimir Dal, and Hans Christian Andersen]

MAYSELAKH [MAYSELACH] מייסעלאך

Kiev: Kultur lige, 1922. Item #43563

1st edition. Original modernist illustrated paper wrappers bound into pamphlet protector. 12mo, 30 pages. With many illustrations. 22 cm. In Yiddish. Title translate as “Little Tales.”

A collection of five tales by Aleksander Afanasyev, Vladimir Dal, and Hans Christian Andersen, adapted by David Roikhel and illustrated by the Yiddish Modernist artist, Mark Epstein.
A striking example of Mark Epstein’s early Cubist-inspired graphic work, produced for the now famous Jewish children’s book Mayselakh. published in Kiev in 1922 and closely associated with the educational and cultural program of the Kultur Lige.

Mark Epstein (1897–1949) was among the most important Jewish graphic artists associated with the Kultur Lige. Born in Babruysk, he received a traditional Jewish education before studying at the Kiev School of Art. In 1918 he worked in the studio of Alexandra Exter, whose influence can be seen in the dynamic, Cubist-inflected vocabulary of his early work. That same year he participated in a Jewish artists’ exhibition in Moscow and was one of the founders of the art section of the Kultur Lige in Kiev.
Epstein was closely associated with the remarkable circle of Jewish modernist writers and poets active in Kiev, including Der Nister (Pinchas Kahanovich), David Bergelson, and Yechezkel Dobrushin. This milieu profoundly influenced his artistic development. Epstein worked across several media as a graphic artist, painter, sculptor, and stage designer, becoming one of the leading visual interpreters of the new Yiddish cultural movement.
Children’s illustration occupied an important place in his work. He designed covers and illustrations for Frayd (Joy), a Yiddish periodical for young people published in Kiev from 1922 to 1925. Mayselakh, here, is part of this same remarkable period of Yiddish publishing, when artists associated with the Kultur Lige joined contemporary European artistic movements with with Yiddish literature and the educational needs of a new generation.
Unlike many of his colleagues in the Kultur Lige’s art section, Epstein remained in Kiev after the establishment of Soviet rule and continued his artistic and educational activities under the transformed organization. From 1923 to 1931 he directed the Jewish Arts and Trades School in Kiev, the institution that emerged from the Kultur Lige’s former art section after its incorporation into the Soviet cultural system. He simultaneously worked as a stage and costume designer for theatres in Kiev and Kharkiv.
In 1932, following the closure of the Jewish Arts and Trades School and the dissolution of the remaining Kultur Lige institutions, Epstein was forced to leave Kiev for Moscow.

Mayselakh is a stunning example of early Soviet Jewish children’s publishing, combining Yiddish literary culture with the bold modernist imagery of one of the most important artists of the Kiev Kultur Lige. For more, see: Estraikh, G., Hoge, K., & Mikhail, K. Children and Yiddish Literature from Early Modernity to Post-Modernity. Routledge, 2016.

Epstein's modernist masterpiece should not be confused with another Kultur Lige-issued-collection of childrens tales from 1922, the 58-page similarly titled work by Itsik Kipnis (1896-1974), Mayselekh far Klayne Kinder .

Mayselakh has appeared at major auction only twice in its long history, in 2019, when a copy sold for $2700, and in 2021, when a copy sold for $3000.00.

OCLC: 122741292, 1514928517. OCLC Locates only 4 copies worldwide (Columbia, Met-NYC, YIVO, & Bib. Nat. France)

Light dampstains & staple rust with light rippling from the epic 1966 JTSA fire, which this book survived (see photos). Otherwise Very Good. An attractive example of a famous example of Modernist Kultur Lige children’s publishing. (PBERL-1-14).

Price: $3,500.00