[LEXICOGRAPHY] Praktychnyi ukrains'ko-rosiis'kyi slovnyk [i.e. Practical Ukrainian-Russian Dictionary]

Kyiv: Derzhavne vydavnytstvo: Chas, 1923. 270, [2] pp. 17,5x13 cm. In original printed wrappers. Fragment of back cover lost, small tears of spine and last leaf, trace of printing ink on front cover, otherwise very good and clean internally.

First edition. Very rare in this condition.
Early Soviet dictionary of Ukrainian words with explanations in Russian. The foreword in Ukrainian. In the early Soviet period, the increase in Ukrainian language publishing and the overall flourishing of Ukrainian cultural life was expansive. The number of Ukrainian newspapers, which almost didn't exist in 1922, had reached 373 out of 426, while only 3 all-republican large newspapers remained Russian. Of 118 magazines, 89 were Ukrainian. Ukrainization of book-publishing reached 83% (Wikipedia). Along with the promotion of
Ukrainian arts and literature, scientific study of the language enjoyed a widespread revival. In particular, phonetics and grammar, history and dialectology of the Ukrainian language were brought to the spotlight. This edition was compiled for those who had to use the Ukrainian language every day without any familiarity with it. Savchenko focused on correct placement of stresses, word changing due to different cases. The Ukrainian alphabet is printed as well. The dictionary was reprinted at least five times in the 1920s.

In the early 1930s, the development of Ukrainian linguistics was suspended. Mass executions of Ukrainian lexicographers (Agatangel Krymskyi, Hryhoriy Goloskevych, Viktor Dubrovskyi, Ovsiy Izyumov, Andriy Nikovskyi, Yevhen Pluzhnyk, etc.) ended the Ukrainization of the 1920-1930s. A search for "mistakes" in their works was undertaken. Later similar dictionaries were jokingly called "Russian-Russian", according to its selection of Ukrainian vocabulary.

The only copy is located in NYPL.