Baykov Soviet Poster Collection

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.

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.

Open, access to all registered researchers.

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.

Please see full catalogue for more information.

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.

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.

The collection developed over a thirty year period by librarians, and by staff and students from the Centre for Russian and East European Studies.

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)