Hushcha, Taras (other pseudonym Iakub Kolas, i.e. Konstantin M. Mitskevich) and Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo, artist (?).

[BELARUSIAN AVANT-GARDE – VITEBSK INFLUENCE ON BOOK DESIGN IN MINSK] Na rubiazhy [On the border].

Minsk: Dziarzhaunae Vydavetstva Belarusi (State Publisher of Belarus), 1925. Octavo (22.7 × 15.3 cm). Original pictorial wrappers; 54, [2] pp. Last page and rear wrapper in facsimile; restorations throughout, with paper repairs and some retouching of text to front wrapper; some creasing to margins and small repaired tears throughout; still about good. Item #55489

First and only edition of this volume of three stories by Iakub Kolas (real name 1882–1956), the Belarusian writer, translator, and political figure. This was one of several shorter books of prose all published in the same year, with stories chronicling the life of villagers, peasants, and workers, often in moments of impending change and socio-economic transformation. In particular, the stories in this volume deal with the Civil War in Belarus following the October Revolution. Kolas is considered a pioneer of Belarusian modern literature; in 1926 he received the honor of "People's Poet of the Belarusian SSR."

The wrapper design is not attributed, like most covers for the Belarusian state publishing house at the time. A rather likely candidate is the Finnish-born artist Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo (1900–1997). He studied first at the Vitebsk School of Applied Arts and Crafts (1921–22), and then at the Odessa School of Applied Arts (1923–24), before working for Minsk based publishers after January 1925. The influence of the Vitebsk UNOVIS movement around Malevich and El Lissitzky (the former was his teacher for a period) is strongly evident in this cover design, in spite of the author's relatively non-experimental literary style. Ahola-Valo attended lectures by Vera Ermolaeva and even had a solo exhibition in Vitebsk in 1922 (See Kimmo Sarje, "With Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo in the Early Days of the Soviet Union," in Siksi, Helsinki: 1/1992, p. 15; L. D. Nalivaiko, "Akhola-Valo i Belarus", https://artmuseum.by/ru/akhola-valo-i-belarus). He was also known to maintain a friendship with Vladimir Tatlin. The interplay of triangle and square, with the black square underlying the entire structure, are clear hints of the influence of Vitebsk. The stippled shading effect for the gray and light red transitions is a technique used in other covers by Ahola-Valo, such as for the journal "Malady araty" (also 1925).

In spite of the condition, a very rare specimen of Constructivist avant-garde design from Belarus requiring further research to definitively identify the artist. All Belarusian copies we were able to access via online catalogs appear to be missing the original wrapper.

The Ilk copy, see Ilk, Global Avantgarde Typography 1915–1950, p. 37 (Belarus 1).

As of December 2025, not in KVK, OCLC.

Price: €800.00

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