Narodniki
Propaganda pamphlets from the 'Going to the People' episode in the collections of the IISH note 1
The booklets are commonly dressed up as 'Tarnschriften' note 2: the illegal content is concealed by a quasi innocent cover and title and a fictitious imprint. Sometimes the booklet is presented as a component of a real series of publications, a sort of cuckoo in the nest. It is impossible to trace the history of every single copy until it arrived at the IISH. About half of these booklets stem from the Lavrov-Goc Library, the collection of the Algemeyner Yidisher Arbeter Bund and the archive of Valerian Smirnov.
Chitraja mechanika
[The cunning trick]
Six different editions of this popular booklet are present in the collection. Only one carries the real title, the other five have different fake titles. All of them have a fictitious publisher and place of publication. The author is Vasilii Egorovičh Varzar, follower of Lavrov. In 1874 he travelled though the Don area as a mower. This was the first of the popular pamphlets to be printed in the composing room of Lavrovs periodical Vpered! in London:
- Chitraja mechanika: Pravdivyj razskas otkuda i kuda idut den'gi
[A cunning tric: a true story about where the money comes from and where it goes]
Soč. Andreja Ivanova (Moskva, Orlov, 1874), 40 p. (IISH callno. R310/59)
>> Read the brochure - Kto i kak deševo dobyvaet den'gi? Razskaz byvalago čeloveka
[Who gets the money and how cheap? A tale by a worldly-wise person]
(S.-Peterburg, 1876), Serija: Narodnoe izdanie, 9, 48 p. (2 ex.: IISH callno. R310/60B and R310/60C)
>> Read the brochure - Čudesnaja skazka o semi Semionach, rodnych brat'jach
[The miraculous tale about the seven brothers Semion]
(Moskva, 1876), 48 p. (2 ex.: IISH callno. R310/60D with stamp The Russian Free Press Fund and R310/60H with stamp Bibliotheque Russe Lavroff-Gotz, Paris, no. 2308)
>> Read the brochure - Razskazy byvalago čeloveka. Čtenie dlja naroda F.U. Tarpygina. Proizneseno v auditorii Soljanago Gorodka. Čtenie 1
[Tales by a worldly-wise person. Lectures for the people, given by F.U.Tarpygin in the lecture hall of Soljanyj Gorodok. Lecture 1]
(S.Peterburg, 1875), Serija: Trudy kommissii pedagogičeskago otdela Muzeja Prikladnych Znanij po sostavleniju čtenij dlja naroda, 31 p. (IISH callno. R310/60E)
>> Read the brochure - [Without title]
(S.-Peterburg, 1876), 48 p. (IISH callno. R310/60K, with stamp Bibliotheque Russe Lavroff-Gotz, Paris, no. 2309)
>> Read the brochure - O tom, čto takoe golod i kak sebja predochranit' ot ego gibel'nych posledstvij. Soč. F.R***. Obščedostupnoe čtenie. No.5
[About hunger and how to protect oneself against its disastrous results. By F.R.***. Public lecture. Nr. 5]
(S.-Peterburg, 1876), 48 p. (IISH callno. R310/60M, with stamp Bibliotheque Russe Lavroff-Gotz, Paris, no. 2307)
>> Read the brochure
Vnušitelja slovili
[They caught an intruder]
The author is A.I. Ivančin-Pisarev. Two different editions are present. Both editions appeared as 'Tarnschrift'. They were published by "Vpered" in London:
- Rabotnik: Razskazy dlja naroda. Razskaz pervyj
[The worker: Tales for the people. First story]
(Moskva, 1875), 32 p. (IISH callno. R310/55)
>> Read the brochure - Pervye veka christianstva: Čtenija dlja naroda svjašč. V.G.Pevcova. Proizneseno v auditorii Soljanago Gorodka'
[The First centuries of christianity: Lectures for the people, given by priest V.G. Pevcov in the lecture hall of Soljanyj Gorodok]
(S.Peterburg, 1875), 30 p. (IISH callno. R310/55A)
>> Read the brochure
Gde lučše: Skazka o četyrech brat'jach
[Where is it better: the tale of four brothers]
On the cover: Četyre strannika ili Pravda i krivda (The four pilgrims or Truth and falsehood). On the title page: Sčastlivaja vstreča ili Ljubov' k rodine (A happy meeting or Love for the fatherland) (Moskva, 1875), 64 p. The author is L.A. Tichomirov. Published by the Chaikovskii group. The end was rewritten by Petr Kropotkin. In his version the four brothers, having seen so much misery and injustice everywhere in Russia, set off in all directions to incite the peasants to rebellion, instead of, as in the original version, sitting down and crying. According to P. Lavrov, this was one of the most successful and popular pamphlets. (IISH callno. R310/61). Also present as Skazka o četyrech brat'jach (The tale of the four brothers) (S.-Peterburg: Narodnaja Volja, 1906), 32 p. (IISH callno. Bro 3807/7)
>> Read the brochure
Skazka o kopejke. Soč. F***
[The tale of the kopek. By F***]
(S.-Peterburg, 1870). The author is S.M. Stepnjak-Kravčinskij. Published in 1874 in Genève in the printing-office of the Chaikovsky group. 64 p. (IISH callno. R310/57)
>> Read the brochure
Iz ognja da v polymja! ili Vot tebe, babuška, i Jur'ev den'. Ne skazka, a byl'-pobyval'ščina iz našich dnej. Soč. Vas. Markova. Čtenie dlja naroda. Prostaja mechanika
[Out of the frying-pan into the fire! or Here's a fine how do you do: no fairy-tale, but a true story from our times. By Vas. Markov. Public lecture. A simple tric]
(S.-Peterburg, 1876), 59 p. The author is S.M. Stepnjak-Kravčinskij. Printed at Vpered in London (IISH callno. R310/57B)
>> Read the brochure
Skazka govorucha
[Tale of the chatterbox]
(Moskva, 1875). The author is S.M. Stepnjak-Kravčinskij. Printed at Vpered in London. 153 p. (IISH callno. R310/57A)
>> Read the brochure
O pravde i krivde
[On truth and falsehood]
On the cover Slovo na Velikij Pjatok preosvjaščennago Tichona Zadonskago Episkopa Voronežskago (Text for Good Friday of the Right Reverend Tichon Zadonskij, Bishop of Voronež) . Izd. 5-e. (Kiev, 1875)], 56 p. Author is S.M.Stepnjak-Kravčinskij. Published in Geneva by Rabotnik. (2 ex.: IISH callno. R310/58, from the Smirnov archive and R310/58A from the Bund collection, with stamp 'Archiv Bunda')
>> Read the brochure
O smutnom vremeni na Rusi
[About the Time of Troubles in Russia]
(S.-Peterburg, 1875), 56 p. [=Sam ja iz bezsročnych (I am one of the hunted runaway slaves)]. The author is A.I. Ivančin-Pisarev. Printed at Vpered in London (IISH callno. R310/56A, from the Smirnov archive)
>> Read the brochure
Bog-to bog, da sam ne bud' ploch
[God helps those who help themselves]
(S.-Peterburg, 1874), 32 p. Published in Geneva by the Chaikovskii group. (IISH callno. R310/52, with stamp Bibliotheque Russe Genève)
>> Read the brochure
O mučenike Nikolae i kak dolžen žit' čelovek po zakonu pravdy i prirody
[About the martyrer Nikolaj and how people should live according to the laws of truth and nature]
Without cover. 28 p. The author is V.V. Bervi-Flerovskij. Published in 1873 in Geneva by the Chaikovskii group. (IISH callno. R310/47).
>> Read the brochure
"Raek". Rabotnik. Razskazy dlja naroda. Razskazy 2-j i 3-j
[The little paradise. The worker. Tales for the people. Tale 2 and 3]
(Moskva, 1876), 28 p. The author is A.I. Ivančin-Pisarev. Printed at "Rabotnik", Geneva. (IISH callno. R310/56)
>> Read the brochure
Čtoj-to bratcy
[So it is, dear friends).
On the cover: Chrabryj voin. Soč. F*** (The brave fighter. By F***)
Izd. 3-e. Moskva, 1875. The author is L.E. Šiško. Published in 1875 in Geneva by the Chaikovskii group, 14 p. (IISH callno. R310/66).
>> Read the brochure
Čtoj-to, bratcy
[So it is, dear friends]
On the cover: Mužickaja pravda. Rasskaz krest'janina (The peasants truth: A countryman's tale). Izd. 2-e. (Char'kov, 1875), 14 p. The author is L.E. Šiško. Published in Geneva by "Rabotnik". (IISH callno. R310/63)
>> Read the brochure
Pesennik
[Songbook]
Published in the Chaikovskii group printing office, Geneva, 1873, 22 p. (IISH callno. R310/45). With stamp 'Archiv Bunda'.
>> Read the brochure
note 1 See also: Agitacionnaja literatura russkich revoljucionnych narodnikov. Leningrad, Nauka, 1970, p. 480 ff. (IISH callno. 27/206), P.L. Lavrov, Narodniki-propagandisty 1873-78 godov. S.-Peterburg, 1907, p. 136 ff. (IISH callno. 177/122) and B. M. Sapir (ed.), Vpered 1873-1877: Materialy iz archiva Valeriana Nikolaeviča Smirnova. Dordrecht, 1970. T.1. , p.88 ff. (IISH callno. 57/1A). Many specifications in this article were taken from pencil notes in the actual pamphlets made by Boris Sapir. Doctor B. M. Sapir was a staff member of the IISH from its inception in 1935 until the outbreak of the Second World War and from 1967 until 1989, shortly before his demise.
note 2 Tarnschriften. From German 'tarnen' = to hide, to conceal; usually the term is used for German publications from the period 1933-1945. See www.iisg.nl/collections/tarnschriften.php and www.iisg.nl/collections/sarrau/ for examples of German and Spanish Tarnschriften in the collections of IISH.