[Russian Avant-garde] Rodchenko, Alexander and Varvara Stepanova. 10 Let Uzbekistana SSR(10 Years of Soviet Uzbekistan)

Moscow/ Leningrad, Ogiz-Izogiz, 1934. 103 unnumbered leaves (of approx. 115?). Photographs by a.o. Eleazar Langman, Abram Shtorenberg, Soyuzfoto, and the IZOGIZ photo laboratory, with multi-col. photogravures, foldouts and transparent sheets of transparent printed sheets. Khaki cloth, green, gilt and blind lettering lettering on frontcover and spine, 4to (20 x 24 cm).

This book is considered the iconic pinnacle of avant-garde Soviet book design, but was heavily censored after publication, as several of the depicted Uzbek Soviet officials had fallen out of favour with Joseph Stalin. Initially, pages depicting these officials were removed, but later possession of the book became illegal, leading to the destruction of most copies. Incomplete copies are held by the MoMA, New York, Dartmouth College and the London School of Economics. As a result of successive acts of censorship, the total number of pages originally issued remains uncertain, and surviving copies differ in composition. The various surviving states reflect different moments in the political climate of the Stalin era, so that each surviving copy represents a distinct stage in the process of censorship. This copy likewise was not entirely spared: about 10 pages have been removed and 1 portrait has been cut out. Cover showing signs of wear, a few quires loosening, very faintly stained in top margin. Exceptional as a historical document that effectively became a record of its own censorship.