BOOK REVIEW: Postcard album is a journey into Ukraine's past (09/10/00)

BOOK REVIEW: Postcard album is a journey into Ukraine's past

"In Memory of Native Land: Ukraine in Cards," by Mykhailo Zabochen, Oleksander Polishchuk, and Volodymyr Yatsiuk. Kyiv, Krynytsia 2000, 508 pp., $100 postpaid. [In Ukrainian with some Russian, English and German text.]

by Ingert Kuzych

This beautiful compendium of classic Ukrainian postcards can best be described in one word: staggering. I use this term for several reasons.

First, it is the combined effort of three men who have spent thousands of hours over four years completing the monumental task of locating these postcards, organizing and cataloguing them, and writing the accompanying text and descriptions.

Next, this volume is the most complete listing of postcards for any country ever published. Some 7,500 pictures depicting all aspects of Ukrainian history and culture are included. To get an idea of what a quantum leap this album is over anything else attempted for Ukrainian postcards, consider that a previously published fine collection of Ukrainian postcards released in 1981 presented only some 575 items.

Finally, there is the sheer size of this volume: over 500 pages and over five pounds. The high-quality paper used adds to the weight but allows for crisp, clear reproduction of the thousands of images.

The core of this catalogue is the huge collection of Mykhailo Zabochen; it is the world's largest. Hundreds of additional rare cards from some 20 other postcard-collecting specialists help round out the presentation. The majority of the postcards were printed prior to 1918.

The introductory part of the book (about 100 pages) consists of six Ukrainian essays: "The Centenary of the Ukrainian Card"; "The Searcher's Happy Fortune"; "Ukraine and Ukrainians"; "Ukraine in the Struggle for Independence"; "Taras Shevchenko: Poet, Artist, Symbol of Ukraine"; and "Ukrainian Culture." These texts are illustrated with some 160 rare cards, most in color and all in original size. The card descriptions are in four languages: Ukrainian, Russian, English and German.

The remaining 400 pages of the volume present 7,345 postcards in reduced size and in black and white. (Reproducing the entire album catalogue in color would have made this mammoth publication far too costly. Besides, a substantial percentage of the original postcards were black and white anyway.) These postcards are divided into four sections corresponding to the last four essays of the introductory section.

The first part, with over 1,800 postcards, focuses on "Ukraine and Ukrainians." It is subdivided into sections showing views of the different regions of Ukraine as they appeared prior to World War I. Next come various card series that show Ukrainians or landscapes from different parts of the country. The portraits of the natives (often described on the cards as Little Russians) are an ethnographer's delight, while many of the bucolic scenes are so inviting that one wishes to step right into them.

The second part, "Ukraine in the Struggle for Independence," consists of almost 800 postcards that follow Ukrainian history from ancient times to the recent past. Many of Ukraine's most famous monarchs and Kozak leaders are shown, but the bulk of this section consists of cards honoring those men and women who participated in the formation of the Ukrainian nation during its first period of independence (1917-1920). Battle scenes, military detachments and the Sichovi Striltsi (Ukrainian Sich Riflemen) are prominently represented.

The next major division of this catalogue revolves around Taras Shevchenko. It was chiefly compiled using the collection of Volodymyr Yatsiuk, who specializes in items pertaining to Ukraine's famous bard. Over 1,100 postcards were reproduced. They are not limited to portraits of the man, but also include cards reproducing his paintings or drawings, and illustrating his poems, statues of Shevchenko, locales named after him, views of his grave, and music, theater and films based on his works.

The final and largest section of the book (over 3,600 postcards) deals with Ukrainian culture. The overview (of several hundred cards) begins with literary greats and scenes from some of their works; it continues through a number of art forms touching on icons, sculpture, engraving and ceramics. Next, almost 3,000 works are presented by artists listed in alphabetical order. The section closes out with postcards of Ukrainian theater (mostly actors), music (famous composers and performers), and folk art (chiefly embroidery, but also examples of pysanky).

The four sections reproducing postcards are followed by a useful "Portrait Gallery of Ukrainian Artists," profiling 63 of Ukraine's greatest artists (responsible for a huge percentage of the artwork that appears on Ukrainian postcards). A bibliography of postcard collecting (65 entries dating back to 1901), a listing of abbreviations that appear on the backs of postcards (identifying the various printers), and an index of names found on postcards (cross-referenced to the pages where they appear) complete this most comprehensive postcard compendium.

Although the price may seem steep, it really is not when one considers the fantastic number of illustrations that make up this volume and that had to be scanned one at a time. The subtitle of this album-catalogue, "In Memory of One's Native Land," is entirely accurate because in viewing these postcards one has the opportunity to travel back in time to Old Ukraine. When you consider that this book functions as a time machine, $100 is amazingly inexpensive. I would most strongly recommend this fabulous volume to anyone interested in Ukrainian history or culture.

Books may be ordered from: Morgan Williams, P.O. Box 2607, Washington, DC 20013; e-mail, Morgan@ArtUkraine.com.

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