183 - [USSR] - LISSITZKY (El).

[USSR] - LISSITZKY (El). Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Cologne: Soviet Pavilion Committee, 1928. — In-8, 205 x 145: 111 pp., 1 plate, printed cover. Stapled. First edition of the extremely rare and famous catalog of the Soviet Pavilion at the 1928 International Press Exhibition in Cologne. Written in German, it was conceived by the Russian designer and art theorist El Lissitzky (1890–1941), artistic director of the Pavilion, and features a preface by Artemi Bagratovich Shalatov (1896–1938), publishing commissioner and president of the State Publishing House. Its dual purpose was to present the pavilion while highlighting the Soviet press as a mirror of life, struggles, and achievements in the USSR. To this end, it offers a comprehensive overview of the Soviet press and society, addressing in particular the USSR and its press, the situation of the proletariat, the trade unions, and the role of the press in the public sphere and within the Red Army. It highlights new forms and methods of the press, criticism and freedom of the press, and Lenin’s legacy, while also covering the press in the federal republics, telegraph agencies, radio, and the editorial staffs of newspapers and magazines, as well as the professional organization of press workers, journalism training, and academic research (Academy of Sciences, Communist Academy, Marx-Engels Institute). Finally, one section is dedicated to books in the USSR, illustrating their role in spreading socialist ideas. After page 16, the publication features an impressive fold-out sheet measuring over 2 meters, consisting of a series of sepia-toned photomontages illustrating the various sections of the pavilion, with the title of each section and a number referring to the corresponding paragraphs in the catalog printed in red. A very well-preserved copy, complete with the “Pressa” Guide to the Economic Section of the Soviet Pavilion (1928), written by A. Stoklitzky and titled *Presse und wirtschaftsleben der UdSSR* (2 folios, in-8). It also includes an advertisement for “Kniga,” a Berlin-based publisher of books and educational materials.