Karavane. Dzejoli 1913-1919. Niklavs Strunke grafika.

Riga: Vainags, 1920 Octavo, wrappers, 127pp., undated but 1920. Linards Laicens (1883-1938) was one of the leading intellectual forces of the Latvian avant-garde. A leftist, frankly often a propagandist, he was a poet, novelist and essayist who had a strong sense of visual design. He edited a number of journals journals of major importance (Kreisa fronte, Tribine) and contributed to many more. Due to political ostracism he emigrated to the USSR in 1935 and was executed in 1938 during the Great Purge which singled out Latvian emigres. This work is the first collection of his poems in the new republic of Latvia. Laicens enlisted Niklavs Strunke for book design, cover and five linocuts, all in Strunke’s most visually experimental style incorporating futurist and cubist elements. Niklavs Strunke (1894-1966) was one of the leading artists of the Riga avant-garde artists group; a gifted graphic designer, he worked in both conventional and cutting-edge genres. Rare: only one copy found in North American libraries.