Soft cover book, Leonid Andreev, Anathema, issued by the Shipovnik (Thistle) publishing house in St Petersburg. Cover designed by G Narbut. Covers bumped and bent on margins and reinforced with paper along the spine, small loss on the right margin of the front cover, pages yellowed. 1909, 174 pages, size 23.8x16.7cm
Heorhiy Narbut ‚, February 25 [O.S. March 3] 1886 in Narbutivka — May 23, 1920 in Kiev) was the most important Ukrainian graphic designer of the twentieth century.
He is known for designing the Coat of arms of Ukraine, banknotes, postage stamps, charters, and his many illustrations in books and magazines. He is also known as Georgy Narbut and George Narbut. He was a brother of a noted Russian Acmeist poet Vladimir Narbut.
Heorhiy Narbut was born in the village Narbutivka, Ukraine not far off from Hlukhiv. His family had origins of ancient Lithuanian nobility. His first painting education was self-taught.
Saint Petersburg
At about age 20, Narbut settled in Saint Petersburg from 1906 to 1917. There he studied with painters Ivan Bilibin and Mstislav Dobuzhinsky. In 1909, Narbut continued some of his studies in Munich, in the school of Simon Hollósy. After his return to Saint Petersburg he joined the organization Mir iskusstva. In 1910-1912 Narbut was an illustrator of the fairy tales Hans Christian Andersen, the fables of Ivan Krylov, and folk tales.
Kiev
In March 1917, Narbut moved to Kiev. In September 1917, he became professor and rector of the Ukrainian Academy of Arts. During this time he created his Ukrainian banknotes, postage stamps and charters for the newly created Ukrainian National Republic. Narbut also worked on the Ukrainian magazines: Nashe Mynule (Our past), Zori (Stars), and Sontse Truda (The Sun of Work) among others. He died of typhus in 1920.