[AVANT-GARDE] Young guard. Molodaia gvardiia. Literaturno-politicheskii dvukhmesiachnik na angliiskom iazyke [A literary and political bimonthly in English]. No. 5.

Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe uchebno-pedagogicheskoe izd-vo, 1931. Octavo (24.5 × 17.5 cm). Original photo-illustrated wrappers 47, [2] pp. Illustrations throughout. Chip to lower corner of front wrapper; small nick to spine. Still about very good. Item #P6659

Notable for its striking photomontage wrappers, this English language magazine for Soviet student youth as well as “worker-activists studying the English language” focuses on the promotion of world revolution, reflecting the Soviet foreign policy of its day. Written in simple English, the journal was intended for students with at least two years of English instruction. The stated goal of the journal was to:“assist in the acquisition of the English language and to familiarize our youth and workers with contemporary England and America, gradually informing them about the current political affairs of these nations, their economy, revolutionary movements and class struggle”. The issue contains articles about John Reed and Tomas Edison, worker protests in England and Soviet ideological victories in China. A major focus is placed on “the process of the collapse of the British empire and the national liberation movements of its colonies” especially China, India, and the Irish separatist movement. The articles about the United States focus on its “meddling in European politics,” the “race question,” and the presence of American capital in Latin America. The issue is appended with a fifteen-page glossary.

An international editorial team was assembled to ensure the high linguistic quality of the publication. Ralph Winston Fox (1900-1937), a Marxist British journalist, historian and literary scholar who belonged to Oxford’s “left generation” served as responsible editor. The famous communist and pan-Africanist George Padmore (1903-1959) was responsible for the “African section of the profintern”. The magazine was a publication of the newly established (in 1930) State Educational and Pedagogical Publishing House (Uchgiz), which specialized in textbooks and educational literature. Wrapper design and illustrations were done by the “Third brigade of uchgiz” an internal design team of the new publishing house. The journal was published twice a month. Despite the generous print run of 7000, as of January 2024, KVK and OCLC show copies only at LOC.

Price: €450.00

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