Friday, 2 September 2016

A collection of children's books, c.1935 - 1950


I am in the process of cataloguing an amazingly well-preserved collection of mainly soft-back children’s books from the 1930s and 40s. There’s a strong ex-patriate Russian (or Soviet empire) theme. Over half the books in the collection are illustrated by Elisabeth Ivanovsky (1910-2006). Born in Moldova, she spent most of her working life in Brussels where she came in 1932 to complete her training, soon establishing herself in the broader artistic and literary community. Here’s a selection of her work, including some of the ‘Pomme d’Api’ miniature books she created with her husband René Meurant in the 1940s, and Scarabées, done with her long-time collaborator Marcelle Vérité:




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