A Song about Tsar Ivan Vasilyevitch, his young body-guard and the valiant merchant Kalashnikov.

London: The Aquila Press,, 1929. First Nash edition, the first appearance of this translation, number 36 of 750 copies only and designed by Paul Nash (1889-1946), a key reviver of wood engraving in the early 20th century. The four engravings here were among the last that Nash produced and, along with the binding, demonstrate the artist's move towards abstraction. The translator John Cournos (1881-1966), an exiled Russian Jewish writer living in America, received literary encouragement from Ezra Pound and W. B. Yeats. Through his translations of Russian literature, Cournos introduced to the English-speaking world such writers as Feodor Sologub, Alexei Remizov, and Andrey Biely. The book concludes with Cournos's biographical sketch of Lermontov, who "was destined to become, next to Pushkin, Russia's greatest poet; and in some of his poems he is fully Pushkin's equal". The short-lived Aquila Press was established in Kensington in 1929 and closed the following year. Its stated purpose was to produce "literary works of high merit not otherwise easily accessible" (Ransom), such as this folk poem by Lermontov which was originally published in 1828. It is commonly known in English as The Song of the Merchant Kalashnikov and inspired the 1880 opera by Anton Rubinstein. Octavo. Gothic type and 4 wood engravings by Nash printed in orange and black on grey Maillol handmade paper. Original orange crushed morocco designed by Nash, front cover with abstract white and black onlays within decorative blind rules, top edge black, other edges untrimmed. Bookseller's ticket on front pastedown. Spine lightly faded, gentle mottling of covers, browning to free endpapers, contents clean. A very good copy. Ransom, p. 201.