[PRE-REVOLUTIONARY RUSSIAN SATIRE] Zanoza: Zhurn. khudozh. satiry [i.e. Splinter: A Magazine of Artistic Satire]

St. Petersburg: Izdatel' S. D. Novikov, 1906. #4, 5 of 1906 (2 issues of 14 printed). 8 pp.: ill. Ca. 24.1x38.7 cm. In original illustrated publisher's wrappers. Near fine. Horizontal creases in both issues.

A rare example of the early Russian satirical magazine.

In the wake of the 1905 Revolution, the Russian society witnessed the emergence of numerous satirical periodicals, among which Zanoza was arguably one of the most popular. The magazine served as a successor to the weekly satirical edition Zanoza, which was published by Mikhail Rosenheim and Ilya Arseniev from 1863 until 1865 and was discontinued after 12 issues. The second Splinter came out under the editorship of the Russian novelist and playwright Roman Antropov (1876-1913) and was printed by Sergey Novikov. The periodical directed its satire against the camp of revolutionary democracy, serfdom, bribery, redemption and, occasionally, at the Tsarist regime. The editorial board of the magazine collaborated with the writers I. Bulatsel', V. Lebedev, S. Mintslov, N. Ratomskiy, I. Gurvich, M. Pustynin and the artists A. Berkutov, YA. Guretskiy, A. Tavits, etc. The periodical was shut down by censors after 14 issues in March 1906. Sergey Novikov resumed publication of the Splinter in 1917, however, the magazine was discontinued the same year.

These two issues of the Splinter feature interesting pamphlets, notes, short stories, and verses mainly concentrated on the unemployment problem and the Tsarist arbitrariness. The literary content of the magazine is produced by the authors V.Trofimov,Evstigney Nagaykin, D. Gudz, etc. The issues feature numerous illustrations, among which the series Panorama of Russo-Japanese War is of particular importance. The issue #6 was confiscated from the typography and immediately destroyed for another drawing from the series. Overall, a rare example of the early Russian satirical magazine. Worldcat shows the copies of the issue #4 in Yale University, University of Michigan, University of Chicago Library, Indiana University, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Getty Research Institute, Oxford University Library and New York Public Library System.

Worldcat shows the copies of the issue #5 in University of Chicago Library, Indiana University, Getty Research Institute, UCLA, Hoover Library, Oxford University Library and New York Public Library System.