Early Soviet (1917–1940)

This collection serves as a documentary chronicle of the Soviet Union’s foundational era, spanning the years from the 1917 Revolution to the end of the 1930s. It captures the rapid evolution of a new state through its printed matter: from the urgent political pamphlets of the Civil War and the diverse publishing landscape of the New Economic Policy (NEP) to the technical and industrial literature of the first Five-Year Plans. Beyond the artistic movements of the time, this archive focuses on the texts that built the Soviet system—educational manuals, legislative acts, literary journals, and mass propaganda—offering a granular view of the social and political mechanisms of the early 20th century.