Lapin, B. [The Destruction of Kentai]. Razrushenie Kentai. 

Illustrations by T. Mavrina.     

[Moscow], OGIZ, Molodaia gvardiia, 1932.
12mo, 77, [3] pp., ill.   

In original illustrated boards and modern paper folder. Illustrated endpapers. Errata slip laid in.
Near very good condition, very lightly rubbed and soiled, rust to staples, owner marks to title in pencil. 

First edition of the novel. The only edition of these illustrations. One of 20 000 copies printed.

The novel is set in Korea during its period of Japanese military control (after Korea became a Japanese colony in 1910) and centers on the fictional exploit of Aratoki Shokai, a young officer who has just graduated from flight school and been assigned to a military base in Korea. In his first flight, he is shot down by Korean rebels and captured. By accident, Aratoki triggers Japanese airstrikes (he didn’t intend it—the air commanders mistakenly interpreted his actions as a signal to attack) on himself and the location where he was captured, yet somehow he survives. Remarkably, he emerges unscathed and becomes a national hero. The author explores how myths about war are created.
The author of the novel, Boris Lapin (1905–1941), was a writer, poet, playwright, journalist, and war correspondent. Lapin had exceptional linguistic abilities; he was fluent in English, French, German, Polish, Bulgarian, and also studied Eastern languages, including Farsi, Tajik, Mongolian, Chukchi, Urdu, and Chinese. Deeply interested in Oriental studies, he traveled extensively across the USSR—from the Karakum Desert and the Pamir Mountains to the Chukotka Peninsula—and also visited Turkey, Mongolia, and Japan. He began his career as an expressionist poet but later shifted to fiction and documentary prose. Lapin died during the encirclement near Kyiv in 1941.
Interestingly, this novel was slightly revised and published under the title 'The Feat' in 1933, the year after 'The Destruction of Kentai' was released.
Skillful illustrations were crafted by Tatiana Lebedeva (1900/1902-1996), better known by her mother's surname, which she used as a pseudonym - Mavrina. She studied at VKhUTEMAS under Robert Falk. She was a member of 'Group 13', an association of graphic artists created in 1929. After World War II, Mavrina developed her unique and easily recognizable style, a 'method that combined the traditions of Russian primitivism with the painterly experiments of the early decades of the 20th century'. Mavrina holds the distinction of being the first Russian artist to receive the Hans Christian Andersen Awards for her contributions to children's book illustrations in 1976.

OCLC locates one copy of this edition only: in the University of Oxford Library.