Activities of the Leningrad Branch of the Children’s Book House in the 1950s: Evidence from archival materials
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2687-1262-2024-6-3-221-233Keywords:
House of Children’s Books, Detgiz, Children’s Literature Publishing House, children’s book, illustration, Leningrad branch, book exhibitions, reading practicesAbstract
For many years, the Detgiz publishing house was the only specialized and, later, the largest publishing house of children’s literature. From the 1930s to the 1950s, it shaped the image of Soviet children’s books. This makes Detgiz an important subject on the research agenda of modern art studies, specifically, when it comes to the 20th century book art.
This article discusses the archival documents of the Leningrad Branch of Detgiz Children’s Book House (in what follows referred to as LBD) spanning the period of the 1950s. The article evaluates the institutional impact of LBD on the development of artistic design in children’s books and its perception.
In the 1950s, LBD was a non-governmental organization affiliated with Detgiz. It laid the foundation for educational and scientific initiatives in the field of children’s books in the USSR. It brought together professionals involved in creating printed books, educators, and young readers.
The analysis of the 1950s archival materials allowed to identify the names of the first LBD employees and the specifics of their work. The data on LBD events was analyzed and systematized.
Although scientific and methodological work on the study of children’s books was already being conducted in the first half of the 20th century, LBD of the 1950s created the conditions for a comprehensive, consistent, and regular interdisciplinary study of the Soviet children’s literature. LBD was established to study and promote the book art and support young illustrators. In those days, the Soviet book culture had not yet defined the principles of perceiving the external appearance of a book. Therefore, in the 1950s, LBD was only beginning to develop a system for studying book art in the segment of children’s books.
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