Homepage
Home
Advanced search
Showcase
FAQs
Contact
Record
XSOVIET POSTERS - Baykov Soviet Poster Collection - 20th century
Level
Fonds
Finding Number (Click this to view full catalogue structure)
SOVIET POSTERS
Title
Baykov Soviet Poster Collection
Extent
2262 items
Date
20th century
Thumbnail (Click this image to open a larger image)
Description
Collection of more than 2000 Soviet propaganda posters, spanning the period from the Russian October Revolution until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Includes reproductions of many classic posters from the 1920s as well as numerous originals from the Brezhnev era and later. More than 500 artists are represented. Some of the posters were produced in Poland and a few in China.
Early posters reflect the Bolsheviks struggle for power in the civil war. Then there is a brief period of artistic experiment before Stalin imposed the Socialist Realism style. Industrialization and collectivization give way to patriotic themes as Russia enters the war against Germany. After the war there is continued emphasis on the armed forces and on Communist youth movements such as the Young Pioneers and Komsomol. There are numerous portraits of Lenin and members of the Politburo. Russia's achievements in space are celebrated and there is propaganda for world peace and unity between the constituent republics of the USSR. There is also concern for social issues such as alcoholism and environmental pollution, often expressed in a witty satirical form.
An index to the work of the various artists and a more detailed description of a sample of typical posters are attached as pdf documents below.
Notes
The images of three of the Soviet posters at Fonds level are referenced: Soviet Poster/775 (9) and (14); and 787 (1). Publication information for posters 775: Moscow / Plakat, 1975. For 787: Leningrad / Khudozhnik RSFSR. Attempts have been made to contact copyright holders, but no reply has been received. Please contact the Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections if you are the copyright holder for any of these Soviet posters.
Arrangement
The Baykov Soviet Poster Collection was originally assigned a running number starting at 500; a companion maps collection was assigned numbers 1-499. The posters were originally assigned a library style class number, with a running number starting at 500 at the end of this class number. The class number is no longer used, but the running number from 500 onwards has been retained unless otherwise stated, and now forms the reference number for each poster, preceded by Soviet Posters/.
Reference number Soviet Posters/843 is no longer in use as this was a duplicate poster which was weeded during appraisal. Posters originally numbered /935-939 have been added to folder /793.
Missing posters: Soviet Posters/671; 774; 912-915.
Language
Russian
Ukrainian
Polish
Lithuanian
Latvian
Mongolian
Finding Aids
A catalogue of this collection is available on the online archive catalogue. Click on the Finding Number to display the summary contents list of the catalogue and to view the full catalogue. A list of artists represented in the collection, and notes about the Soviet poster collection based on a presentation given by David Wilson 6 February 2012, are available as pdf documents (see document field below).
Document
Baykov Collection Artists.pdf
BAYKOV posters.pdf
Access Status
Open
Custodial History
The collection developed over a thirty year period by librarians, and by staff and students from the Centre for Russian and East European Studies.
Archival Note
Online catalogue created from translations and listing supplied by David Wilson whilst volunteering with Cadbury Research Library; pdf attachments compiled by David Wilson 2012-2013.
Copies
Tiff copies have been made of posters 500-780, with the exception of 671 as the original is missing. These Tiff images are stored on the staff R drive.
Related Material
Another Soviet propaganda poster is held at reference MS892
A further collection of 31 Soviet propaganda posters are held at reference MS947
Associated Materials
A large collection of Russian posters is held at Nottingham University http://windowsonwar.nottingham.ac.uk/ (link correct 2016)
Showcase
Some of our most significant collections
Church Mission Society
Save The Children
Papers of Neville Chamberlain
Young Men's Christian Association
Explore showcase