Luxury edition, very large and massive. Measures 14 ½" x 11" x 1", weighs over 4 ½ lbs. 225 pp. Hardcover. Russian text. Published by GOSPOLITIZDAT (State Political Publishers) in 1955, the 50th anniversary of the first Russian revolution of 1905-1907. Circulation 25,000 - a mere pittance by Soviet standards. Five of the best printing factories participated in providing high quality photos, text, diagrams, maps, embossments on the free endpaper and binding. Two very interesting ink stamps at the bottom of the title page bear witness to the facts that this copy used to belong to the Central Regional Committee of the Communist Party, city of Khabarovsk (right-side stamp), and was kept in the Khabarovsk Regional Science Library where it was approved for sale on 28 December, 1997 (left-side stamp).

The album presents the history of the 1st Russian Revolution in chronological order, presenting the historical and political environment preceding, surrounding and following the events of the revolution itself. The textual part is illustrated by a large number of b/w photos including a close-up portrait of young Lenin, statistical diagrams, documents including facsimile of handwritten documents (one of them by Lenin), reproductions of drawings and paintings and a large map insert illustrating the areas of political impact of the revolution on surrounding European and Asian countries. Of special interest is the presence of Stalin in the text and illustrations as well as being the fourth head in the vignette on the last page glorifying the founding fathers of Communist ideology. Apparently, Khrushchev's "destalinization" began after the album's publication in 1955.

The cover is in good condition. The bottom 3 ½" of the back board are missing and all 4 corners of the cover are frayed but, given the huge size of the book this is not really detractive and adds character. Most importantly, the binding is strong and tight. The textblock is in very good to excellent condition. The internal pages are evenly and mildly age-toned and have no corner bumps, creases or significant soiling, if any at all. Inventory stamps and handwritten inventory marks are present throughout the textblock as was the standard practice in Soviet libraries.

The album begins with presenting the Communist view on the hardships of Russian peasantry and the fledgling proletariat, motivated by the Social-Democrat agitators to strike against the regime and the "evil bourgeoisie". It also includes other important historical factors, such as the Russo-Japanese War. The First Russian Revolution "officially" began with the events of the infamous "Bloody Sunday" on January 9, 1905, when a peaceful demonstration marching to the Winter Palace to complain to the czar about the misery of their living and working conditions was shot at by a detachment of soldiers deployed to guard the palace. As is its nature, violence beget violence and continued, fueled by Lenin's agitators, for 2 years, spilling out to neighboring countries such as, for example, Poland, bringing to the forefront the sinister figure of Felix Dzerzhinskiy.

Overall, the album is a very hard-to-put-down book which will give a true history buff hours upon hours of fascinated enjoyment, even if blood curdling at times. To read more about the history of the Bolshevik uprising and the rise of the Soviet state, please visit the Vintage Soviet Literature section of our website.

Please note that the pen in our photo is for size reference.