Volin, B. (editor)

Na postu: ezhemesiachnyi literaturno-kriticheskii zhurnal [On Duty: Monthly Literary-Critical Magazine], no. 1, 1923

Moscow: Novaia Moskva, 1923. Original wrapper is pasted on a board. Item #633

30 x 23 cm. 216 columns [4] pages. Text in Russian. One of 6000 copies. With the “People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (N.K.I.D.) club” stamp and inscriptions on several pages.

The first issue of the literary criticism magazine that operated in Moscow from 1923 to 1925 as an official publication of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers saw the collaboration of notable figures such as D. Bedny, A. Bezymensky, V. Narbut, L. Reisner, S. Rodov, A. Serafimovich, and others. This magazine ardently advocated for adherence to the party's literary guidelines during the era of the New Economic Policy (NEP) and stood firmly against private publishing houses. Much like the Proletkultists, the "Napostovites" held a critical stance toward any creative endeavors deemed "non-proletarian" and the classical literary legacy.

Remarkably, this magazine maintained an unwavering stance not only toward its fellows but also toward communist and proletarian writers who were not affiliated with the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers. The current issue features articles by B. Volin, titled "Slanderers: Erenburg, Nikitin, Brik," S. Rodov's piece on "How LEF Prepared for a Campaign," and L. Sosnovsky's take on M. Gorky titled "From Former Glavsokol to Tsentrouzh," among others. Additionally, an article by G. Lelevich titled "Vladimir Mayakovsky" is included, wherein Mayakovsky is described as someone with a unique sensitivity of the nervous system—manifesting not as outright anger but rather as a sort of restlessness, neurasthenia, and hysteria.

Following the discontinuation of the magazine, Mayakovsky, in a poem inspired by Sergei Yesenin's tragic suicide, implied that if he had succumbed to the influence of the "Napostovites," he might have struggled to discover his true self and might have taken his own life prematurely. Essentially, with this statement, Mayakovsky denounced the extreme pro-government zealotry displayed by the literary figures associated with this magazine, highlighting how it had been taken to such an absurd extreme.

Price: $150.00