Malevich, Rodchenko, El Lissitsky, and Popova.

Maxim Zukov would be the best source. He sometimes posts here.

This is a great book but not translated.

I found this very useful, also it's updated daily :), it's a collective of russian type designers
http://dailytype.ru/

Malevich, Rodchenko, El Lissitsky, and Popova.

Malevich was not a typographer and the rest are hardly representative of Russian typography. For all the coverage historians give it, constructivism was really a short lived blip in the history of Russian art and design (to some extent because the state banned it entirely), but as with most of design, there’s much more to appreciate once you get out of the boring little box of modernism.

A few books I can recommend:

Note: this is my own attempt at translating names and titles, they might be classed under different guises in catalogs and such.

Russian Graphic Design in 1880-1917, Elena Chernevich and Mikhail Anikst (Русский Графический Дизайн 1880-1917, Елена Черневич и Михаил Аникст) 1990 (Russian edition in 1997)
I couldn't find a good review page that didn't also include a download link, so I am not posting any.

Modern Typface, Villu Toots (Современный шрифт, Виллу Тоотс) 1966
http://www.callig.ru/node/27/

The Art of Type. Selected works of Moscow book artists in 1959-1974. By our own Maxim Zhukov (Искусство шрифта. Работы московских художников книги. 1959-1974, Максим Жуков) 1977
http://www.callig.ru/node/67/

Book hands in XVII century Russia, Kostukhina L.M. (Книжное письмо в России XVII в., Костюхина Л. М.) 1974
http://www.callig.ru/node/153/

Sadly, only the first book on the list has an English translation.

This has some good articles:

http://www.amazon.com/Language-Culture-Type-International-Unicode/dp/193...

Sorry, James, I humbly bow to your enormous genius and beg forgiveness for my obvious indiscretion.

There is a sample chapter from that Yuri Gordon "Book of Letters" online: http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/izdal/kniga_pro_bykvy/

Enough to make you curious for the rest!

Theunis and Christopher,
Even though I cannot read Russian, I still get plenty out of it. The shipping costs are just crazy from Russia, though.

Yuri Gordon also has a blog (i mean a livejournal?!) I've been trying to follow. Google's Russian translations are beyond terrible but sometimes there are some really interesting bits. http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fyurig...

.

/tck.

Dez, I can sort of "read" the characters but don't have a single idea of wot it means :-) (Same with Greek, actually.)

Somehow"Knyga" = "book" stuck into memory (in several languages: Greek: "biblio", but more correct should be "vivlio"; in Arabic, "kitab"). Simple extrapolation led me to believe it's a "Book of Letters from A to Z".

But I like the rhythm of written Cyrillic, in the way I like French rap songs. A bit like admiring a poem written in finest Japanese calligraphy -- no clue what everyone is so excited about but it sure looks good.

"But I like the rhythm of written Cyrillic, in the way I like French rap songs. A bit like admiring a poem written in finest Japanese calligraphy"

I have the same rhythmic feeling with Indic scripts.

Dear Chris, my messages to you keep bouncing, so I am answering your query here.

• Is it possible to buy a copy of your book?:
  The Art of Type. Selected works of Moscow book artists in 1959-1974. By our own Maxim Zhukov. 1959-1974,) 1977) 1977

Hmm, it looks like there is a number of mistakes in the above bibliographical reference.

1. The real name of the book is The Lettering Art: Works by Moscow Book Designers, 1959–1974. Moscow: Kniga, 1977;
2. This is not my book: only its design and layout are mine; the name of the editor is Evgenia Butorina; the foreword was written by Yuri Gherchuk;
3. The main text of the book is in Russian; however, the designers’ bios, the captions, the summary, and the detailed list of plates is in 4 languages (Russian, English, French and German);
4. For easier search and reference, the Russian title is Искусство шрифта: Работы московских художников книги, 1959–1974. Москва: «Книга», 1977.

There are still copies available, that’s for sure. The first offer I have found is Oak Knoll’s; however, it is pretty expensive. I hope you can get it for less somewhere else. See, they sell it for 5,000 RUB (171.70 USD)… And here (scroll down) the selling prices vary from 2,500 RUB (85.85 USD) to 6,000 RUB (205.49 USD). Even cheaper deals may exist… However, I have no idea what the delivery to the US might cost.

@Maxim

Sorry for the confusion, I mean to write "Designed by our own Maxim Zhukov" but the first word has slipped.

Thanks, Maxim! I had better check my mail service provider and see what the problem is. I have received several emails from you prior to this over the past few years without any problem.

Chris

and one more time:
„Cyrillic is not only russian”

Andrij, of course you are correct. That's why I usually state "I can read Cyrillic but I can't read Russian" (or Ukrainian, for that matter) ;-)

• and one more time: “Cyrillic is not only russian”.

But of course… It’s just that Christopher Dean stated, most clearly, “I am developing an interest in Russian typography“. Now imagine someone saying, “I am developing an interest in French typography”, only to hear back that “Latin script serves other languages too”. What’s your point andrijko?

i only want to say that „rhythm of written Cyrillic” is very different for different languages. it's my point, Maxim

This is certainly true.