(RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE) Blok, Aleksandr

(RUSSIAN AVANT-GARDE.) Blok, Aleksandr. Dvenadtsat' [The Twelve]. 14 full-page and 7 smaller illustrations by Iurii Annenkov. Folio, original printed wrappers, edges chipped, spine deteriorated, dampspots; mostly marginal, visible dampstaining to contents, scattered light internal creasing, few tape repairs to inside front cover sold as is. St. Petersburg: Alkonost, 1918

first trade edition of blok's most famous work. The severe controversy over The Twelve, considered the first serious artistic response to the October Revolution, continues today among representatives of Russian Orthodox thought. Blok worked very closely with Annenkov on the very haunting illustrations and admitted to having found them "unexpectedly close and dear to me." Pyman II, page 285; not in Hellyer. An uncommon and quintessential work.