#hohol

Between Two Worlds

Nikolai Gogol (Ukrainian Mykola Hohol, 1809-1852), often considered one of the greatest Russian writers of the nineteenth century, was in fact born in Ukraine and came from a Cossack family. The landscapes, folklore, and village life of the Ukrainian countryside shaped his imagination and inspired his early stories, such as Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. Writing from this cultural borderland may have given Gogol a unique perspective: while he created romantic and humorous tales rooted in Ukrainian traditions, he also exposed the absurdities of Russian bureaucratic and provincial life. Works like The Nose, Diary of a Madman, and Dead Souls revealed the grotesque mechanics of imperial society. Torn between his Ukrainian origins and the Russian literary world in which he wrote, Gogol nevertheless helped shape the realism that would later flourish in the works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. 

This beautifully illustrated volume of Gogol's Chichikov's Journeys, or, Home Life in old Russia (an alternate title for Dead Souls), originally published in 1842, was produced in 1944 by the Limited Editions Club of New York in an edition of 1200 copies. Founded in 1929 by George Macy, the club specialized in finely crafted editions of classic texts, printed in small runs on custom papers with distinctive bindings and original illustrations, often signed by the artists. 

The illustrations here are by Lucille Corcos (1908-1973), a prominent American painter associated with the “modern primitivist” movement. Known for her vibrant colors and playful perspectives, Corcos illustrated many literary classics and exhibited widely, including at the Whitney Biennial and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

Together, Gogol’s literary imagination, Corcos’s expressive illustrations, and the craftsmanship of the Limited Editions Club turn this book into both a work of literature and a collectible piece of art.  

-- Kate, Special Collections Graduate Art History Fieldworker