Moykher-Sforim, Mendele - "The Calf" - Russian Children´s Book

Published in St. Petersburg-Kiev by Yiddisher Folks-Farlag, 1919, 8.2 x 10.4 inches, 16 pages, in very good condition. Illustrated by Iosif Chaikov.

"Dos Kelbel" (The Calf), is an abridgement of Moykher-Sforim´s Sefere ha-behemot (The Book of Beasts). His real name was Sholem Yankev Abramovich (1836-1917), and is credited with founding modern literature in Yiddish. He was an editor, satirist, and teacher who opposed traditional Yiddish writing in a biblical manner. His pseudonym means "Mendele the itinerant bookseller". In keeping with the author´s tradition, Chaikov combines cubist techniques with folk iconography in his rendering of the Shtetl life. OCLC locates one copy in Princeton.