Okti︠a︡brʹ v kube
Publisher: [s.n.]
Published: 1919
Place of publication: Moscow, Russia
Language: rus
Number of pages: 24
Subjects: Influence; Constructivism (Art)
Notes: A book of a single gathering, comprising 6 bifolia of coarse, tan paper stapled together at the fold. On its pages are mounted separate pieces of paper printed with texts and ill. The greenish paper with texts on p. [6], [10], and [19] were used previously, as printing can be detected on the back of the mounted sheets.

Pagination includes cover.

Slips mounted at head of p. [2], [7], [18] read: otdel pervyĭ [vtoroĭ, tretiĭ] (first [second, third] section).

Page [1] (front cover) mounted with linocut(?) title in black block letters arranged in 4 rows: OKTI︠A︡B / Rʹ / V / KUBE. P. [24] (back cover) mounted with slip bearing the word VSË (That's all).

Texts include a prayer beginning T︠S︡ari︠u︡ nebesny!̆ (Heavenly Lord!), a charm against bee stings, a poem by Fedor Sologub (My plenennye zveri; We are captive animals), 3 quotations from Wassily Kandinsky's Tekst khudozhnika (An artist's text), and an announcement for a performance of Kashirskai︠a︡ starina (Olden days in Kashira). A poem on p. [2] consisting of single-word lines is signed: Naumov. Of a number of aphorisms and brief manifestos directed against traditional art, those on p. [4] and [12] are signed: S. Svetlov. That on p. [8] is signed: N. Prusakov, and that on p. [10] includes an outline pyramid, a mark used by Nikolaĭ Prusakov to sign his work (cf. Milner, A dictionary of Russian and Soviet artists).

Ill. include 4 lithographs (mounted on p. [3], [9], [11], [17]). That on p. [9] is signed on the plate: Svetlov, and dated 19 (for 1919). It incorporates the Roman initials LZ (possibly for Lidii︠a︡ Zharova, who married Naumov in 1920; see Aleksandra Shatskikh, A brief history of OBMOKhU, in: The great utopia, 1992). Page [5] has an unsigned relief print (linocut?), printed black over a textured background printed red. It depicts a seated figure in a roundel, surrounded by heavenly bodies. The figure is divided vertically into 2 incongruous halves, the left half Christ-like--bearded, with cruciform nimbus, the right half demonic. P. [6] has an unsigned collage consisting of 2 partly overlapping squares of red and of green paper. It is mounted above a separate slip of paper that reads "A. Kruchenykh." It is not clear whether Kruchenykh produced the collage himself or whether it was created in hommage to him by one of the OBMOKhU artists. Page [23] has an unsigned collage in orange and black. It includes the words Vlastʹ ukrepim sovetov (Let us strengthen the rule of the Soviets).

Three other copies of Okti︠a︡brʹ v kube are known: one in the Rossiĭskai︠a︡ gosudarstvennai︠a︡ biblioteka (RGB; Russian State Library), Moscow, an incomplete copy in the A. Polonski collection, Paris, and a third that was apparently offered for sale in Moscow ca. 1995. The RGB copy is stamped on p. [2] and [24]: Gosudarstvennai︠a︡ biblioteka SSSR im. V.I. Lenina, on p. [24] with the hand-written addition: 5951-78. In comparison to the present copy, the pages of the RGB copy are arranged in different order, and the texts and ill. are often positioned differently on the page. It lacks the collages on p. [6] and [23] of the present copy. In the RGB copy, the square that encloses the roundel in the print on p. [5] of the present copy has been cut away, and the roundel has been cut down the middle into 2 half circles, separating the Christ-like and demonic aspects of the figure. The right half circle has been mounted about 1.5 cm. lower than the left and about .5 cm. away from it. The text that appears on p. [7] of the present copy on a single slip has been divided into 6 separately mounted slips, a 7th line in the present copy being omitted.

[Comparison to RGB copy, continued]. In the RGB copy, a slip printed with the opening verses of the Magnificat has been added to the lithograph that appears on p. [9] of the present copy. The prayer on p. [19] of the present copy has been replaced by the 149th psalm. In place of the collage on p. [23] of the present copy there is a print of old Russian wooden buildings. Page [24] of the RGB copy has a statement of responsibility, lacking in the present copy: Ėta kniga napisana, otpechatana i illi︠u︡strirovana khudozhnikami P. G.S.Kh.M. Prusakovym, Naumovym i Svetlovym (This book was written, printed and illustrated by artists of the First State Free Art Studios Prusakov, Naumov and Svetlov).

Insofar as one can judge from the description of the sale copy, it differs from both this Library's copy and the RGB copy in a number of respects. Once again, the pages are arranged in different order, and the texts and ill. are positioned differently on the page. Certain of the mounted slips are embellished with gold foil or colored paper. The description of the sale copy includes titles for the prints that are lacking in the copies of the RGB and this Library; it is not clear whether they actually appear in the sale copy, or have been supplied by the cataloger. As in the RGB copy, the roundel on p. [5] of the present copy is divided into 2 half circles. Also like the RGB copy, the sale copy lacks the collages on p. [6] and [23] of the present copy, the latter again being replaced by the print of old Russian wooden buildings. As in the RGB copy, the text that appears on p. [7] of Library's copy on a single slip has been divided into 6 separately mounted slips, the 7th line of the present copy being omitted. The sale copy lacks the text that appears on p. [12] of the present copy and the RGB copy (Golod - istochnik zhizni i dvizhenii︠a︡; Hunger is the source of life and movement). The prayer of the present copy appears in the sale copy, rather than the 149th psalm of the RGB copy.