LETTERS-DRAWINGS BY NIKOLAI SAMOKISH FOR THE EDITION OF THE WANDERINGS OF CHICHIKOV, OR DEAD SOULS BY N. GOGOL

The paper concentrates on the illustration work of Nikolai Samokish, a famous artist and painter of battle-pieces, for the edition of The Wanderings of Chichikov, or Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol (1900). The seventeen letters, created by the artist, are examples of a unique graphic book design of those years and serve as confirmation of fundamental changes in the world of print of that time. Letters-drawings for this edition have not previously been studied. The style of the works is touched upon: the artist created the drawings not adhering to a certain art movement; he used elements of different artistic styles in his compositions. Considering the graphic decoration of the letters by Samokish for Gogol's works, it is interesting to note that the artist and the writer (at different times) studied at the same school founded by Prince A. Kushelev-Bezborodko in Nizhyn city.