Laszlo DORMANDI (1898 - 1967) RUSSLAND: wie es war - wie es wurde - wie es ist. RUSSIA: as it was - as it has become - as it is. Mock-up project for a book of 450 photographs on Russia and the Soviet Union from the end of the 19th century to 1930, in German and French. The book comprises 192 numbered pages: 2 blank pages (N° 1 - 2), 1 title page (N°3), 1 false title page (N°4), 2 blank preface pages (N°5 - 6), 185 pages of photographs (N° 7 - 191) and 1 very brief photographic credit page (N°192) (Scherl Archiv, Unionbild, Keystone, les Ateliers Photographiques, New York Times...). In the original German version, 32 photographs are missing, carried over to the French version: 1 on each of the folios (N° 7, 25, 34, 35, 57, 59, 64, 65, 66, 67, 70, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 79, 80, 95, 121, 129, 130, 140, 170), 2 on folio N° 142 and three on folios N°76 and N°77. On sheet 191 (defective), one photograph is damaged. The French version is complete with photographs but three leaves are missing (N°1, 2 and 192). The work is divided into three chapters: - "Comme c'était" 126 photographs on 50 leaves (N° 7-56) on all sorts of subjects including Russian types, religious life, politicians, the imperial family, the Russo-Japanese war ... - As it has become" 143 photographs on 58 sheets (N°57-114) on the revolution and civil war. - As it is " 181 photographs on Bolshevik Russia with leaders, diplomats, the Red Army, the arts, propaganda, the five-year plan ... In 1931, this work was co-written with Alexandre (Sandor) Marai (1900 - 1989), with whom he had co-edited "Seize années d'Histoire" (Flammarion, 1931), for potential publication by his company "Édition Panthéon" in 1932. The project did not come to fruition and L. Dormandi proposed an enlarged version in 1945/1946, deleting the mention of Marai's collaboration, who had remained in Hungary under the Soviet yoke. The original typographer was Albert Kner (1899 - 1976), an illustrator, typographer, printer, designer and artist who emigrated to the USA in 1938. Attached are several typescripts by Dormandi and letters to him concerning the project to publish works of photography, including this one. 36.5 x 25.5 cm In 1926, Dormandi joined the board of directors of the Pantheon publishing house. In 1938, he left Hungary. This work was finally published in Hungary in 2003. Reference: Tüskés Anna: Dormándi László és a Pantheon Kiadó In: Hites, Sándor; Rózsafalvi, Zsuzsanna; Somorjai, Szabolcs (szerk.) Az irodalom-üzlet: Vállalkozás és kultúra a könyvkiadásban, Budapest, Magyarország: Petőfi Irodalmi Múzeum (PIM) (2023) Remarks: - leaflets No. 51, 52 and 53 of the French version correspond respectively to leaflets No. 52, 53 and 51 of the first version in German. - the suitcase bears a label from Dormandi with his address [24 place] Dauphine in Paris I and therefore dates from after 1960.