Basni Khemnitsera.

A wonderful fairytale illustrated by Mitrokhin and printed by Joseph Knebel, one of the most important publishers of Russian picture books. He prioritised illustration over text and was the first to specialise in children's book design. It was his belief that 'The child will quickly forget the content. But the illustration- its range of colours, its design - might forever leave a trace on the child's soul'.

Basni Khemnitsera is from the 'gift series' which featured folktales from around the world. Benois said that each time a new book in the series was published it was as much of an event as a new art exhibit. Knebel and Mitrokhin had a fruitful working relationship, so much so that Mitrokhin was known simply as a 'Knebelist'. Much like Bilibin, Mitrokhin was influenced by Japanese prints and Russian lubki but also Aubrey Beardsley. He carefully considered the design of every aspect of the In the spirit of the World of Art's philosophy that a printed publication should be a work of art, the typography, wrappers and vignettes were all intended to be in harmony together.