Mayakovsky, Vladimir. Dlia Golosa [“For the Voice”- collected poems to be read aloud]. Text in Russian

(LISSITZKY, ELIEZER).

Lutze & Vogt for Gosizdat

Berlin

1923

Printed covers, book design and title page designed by LISSITZKY

Busch-Reisinger Museum Catalogue, El Lissitzky (1987) no. 1923/3 and pl. 94,96; Museum of Modern Art Catalogue , The Russian Avant-Garde Book 1910-1934 (2002) no.478, pp.194-5 (illustrated)

A MASTERPIECE OF MODERN TYPOGRAPHY AND DESIGN. This anthology of 13 poems is matched by a neat and witty 2-color layout, with abstract symbols for each poem on a thumb-index. The design elements employed by Lissitzky in this book represent an important period in the development of Constructivist design. The innovative typography helped establish the principles of the Russain Avant-Garde movement in the West and the profound influence it had on the Bauhaus and De Stijl movements. According to Lissitzky “my pages stand in much the same relationship to the poems as a piano accompanying a violin. Just as the poet unites concept and sound, I have tried to create an equivalent unity using the poem and typography.” See Victoria & Albert Museum Catalogue; From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists’ Illustrated Books (1985), no. 85