Nikolai Ilyin (Russian, 1894–1954): Book Designer

P. A. Poluianov (author, pictured on the cover), Gibel’ teatra I torzhestvo kino (The Downfall of Theater and a Triumph for Cinema), 1925

Left: Maquette for book cover. Cut-and-pasted gelatin silver prints and ink,
8 5/16 x 6 9/16” (21.5 x 16 cm)
Right: Book cover. Nizhnii Novgorod: Nizhpoligraf, Izdanie avtora
(published by the author), 1925. Lithograph, 7 1/16 x 5 5/16” (18 x 13.4 cm)

Initially trained as an architect, Nikolai Ilyin (Russian, 1894–1954) began designing books during his student years. Aware of the latest developments in German graphic design, he was especially influenced by the work of Jan Tschichold and Die neue Typographie (The New Typography). Ilyin’s avant-garde cover designs won him acclaim, including a special diploma awarded at the important Vsesoiuznaia Poligraficheskaia Vystavka (All-Union Polygraphic Exhibition) in Moscow in 1927. Between 1922 and 1930, he designed books for the Nizhpoligraf publishing house in Nizhnii Novgorod. In 1930, he was appointed Vice Director of the Poligraficheskii institut (Institute of Printing Trades) in Moscow, and in 1941 he became Senior Art Director of Goslitizdat, where he spent the remainder of his career. It is estimated that Ilyin designed some 3,000 books during the course of his career. Later in life, Solomon Telingater (Russian, 1903–1969) published a tribute to his fellow designer: S. B. Telingater, “Khudozhnik knigi Ilyin” (Ilyin as a Book Designer), in Poligraficheskoe proizvodstvo (Printing Trades), no. 2 (1946): 11–13.

Book cover: D. I. Reitynbarg (author),
Umelo pol’zuisia plakatom (Use the Poster Skillfully)
Moscow: Voprosy truda (Aspects of Labor), 1928
Letterpress and lithograph, 7 1/8 x 10 3/4” (8.1 x 27.3 cm)

Book cover: Vladimir Mayakovsky (author),
Slony v komsomole (Elephants in the Komsomol)
Moscow: Molodaia gvardiia, 1929
Letterpress, 7 1/8 x 9 1/8” (18.1 x 23.3 cm)

Book cover: A. Yasny (author),
Veter v litso. Stikhi (Wind into the Face. Poems)
Moscow: Molodaia gvardiia, 1931
Letterpress, 7 1/8 x 5 3/8” (18.2 x 13.6 cm)

V. E. Babineishvili (author), Kamo, 1934

Above: Maquette for book cover. Cut-and-pasted paper and ink on paper,
7 7/8 x 10 5/8” (19.9 x 28 cm)
Below: Book cover.  Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Staryi Bol’shevik, 1934
Lithograph, 7 7/8 x 10 5/8” (19.9 x 28 cm)

Note: Simon Arshakovich Ter-Petrosian (1882–1922) was also known under the nickname Kamo. Kamo was a professional Georgian/Russian revolutionary, one of the organizers of the underground publishing houses of the RSDRP (b) (Bolshevik Party). He also assisted in the dissemination of the Bolshevik Party’s literature and transportation of weapons for the proletarians.

Possibly Nikolai Ilyin
Left: Pokhval’naia gramota (Honorable Mention), 1929
Letterpress, 18 3/16 x 12 1/2” (46 x 31.7 cm)
Right: Nizhegorodskaia kommuna: Diplom
(Nizhnii Novgorod Commune: Diploma), 1930s
Letterpress, 12 1/4 x 8 3/4” (31 x 22 cm)

June 27, 2023