ŠEVČENKO T[aras] - Kobzar. Druge vydannja "Obščestva imeni T. G. Ševčenka [...]"....

ŠEVČENKO T[aras] - Kobzar. Druge vydannja "Obščestva imeni T. G. Ševčenka [...]" ta "Blagotvoritelnago Obščestva izdanija obščepoleznych i deševych knig". S.-Peterburg 1908. knygopečatnja Šmidt. 8, p. XXXII, 612, [1]. Bound in psk. of period with preserved broch. cover.
Abrasions of spine and cover, folding of one of the initial pages, no portrait (as indicated by a handwritten note in pencil on the back pastedown), minor stains. Ex-libris and stamp. "Rotnaya biblioteka I-oj roty Imperator Alexander II korpus". At the beginning a biography of the author. Edition of Taras Shevchenko's poems. "Kobzar" (Polish: "Kobziarz"), containing eight poems, was first published in 1840 and was "considered by later critics to be a landmark work in Ukrainian literature [...]. The poems contained in Kobziar, based on Cossack themes, have their source in Shevchenko's fascination with folk culture, known since childhood, the works of anonymous folk singers. These works were a source of direct thematic inspiration for the poet; through them he learned facts (usually dramatized) and legends from the history of the Cossacks, which he then used in his works [...]. During Shevchenko's lifetime [he died in 1861] two more volumes of his poetry were published, also bearing the title 'Kobziarz'. They contained eight poems from the first edition, as well as further works designated by the author and approved by the censor, written in the years prior to publication (1844 and 1860). The threefold use of the same title was enforced by the tsarist censors, who did not allow Shevchenko to publish new works under the title 'Poetry' in order to create the impression that subsequent volumes repeated content already familiar to readers. Also after the poet's death, many collections of his poetry were published under the name 'Kobziarz', due to the immense popularity of this title and its unambiguous association with Shevchenko" (Wikipedia). The volume presented here belongs to this group of publications, and contains about 220 poems.