[ARMENIAN TYPOGRAPHIC BOOK DESIGN / POETRY] Երգեր սիրո և պայքարի / Erger siroy ew paykari [= Yerker siro yev baykari / Songs of Love and Struggle]

AMIRIAN, KHACHIG (1915-1998).

Aydinlik Basımevi / Charakayt Mürettiohanesi, Istanbul, 1948.

Original printed wrappers. Cr. 8vo (20 x 14 cm). In Armenian. 95, [1] p., ills. Minor fading to the wrapper margins and light creasing to the front cover; otherwise, a bright and well-preserved copy in very good condition.

An uncommon post-war poetry collection in Armenian, with striking cover typographic design and composition. The volume is divided into two sections, “Songs of Love” (Երգեր սիրոյ) and “Songs of Struggle” (Երգեր պայքարի), corresponding to the thematic structure indicated by the title. The first section contains poems concerned with love and personal experience, while the second comprises works addressing themes of struggle, social conditions, collective memory, displacement, and perseverance. The collection was published in Istanbul in 1948 and forms part of the post-war literary output of the Armenian community in Turkey.

The striking yellow, black, and white wrappers feature bold Armenian lettering arranged around a large, irregular black geometric form, punctuated by a sharply contrasting yellow triangular element. The text is accompanied by experimental three b/w illustrations employing stippling, cross-hatching, angular shapes, and abstract compositions.

Amiryan was an Armenian poet, journalist, and literary figure whose work occupied a distinctive place in twentieth-century Western Armenian literature. He collaborated extensively with the Armenian press in Istanbul, France, and the United States, contributing poems, short stories, chronicles, and literary essays under several pen names, including Charagayt, Vard Ashuni, Ara Mirian, Jorghik, Jato, and Thateraser. Following his repatriation to Soviet Armenia in 1963, he settled in Yerevan, where he completed his studies at Yerevan State University and subsequently taught Turkish and Ottoman Turkish at the Faculty of Oriental Studies from 1971 to 1987. His writings appeared in numerous Armenian literary periodicals, and he remained active in Armenian literary and cultural life throughout his career.

As of June 2026, OCLC records only three institutional holdings worldwide, two of which are in the United States: (1101132768 &1483145030) Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, University of Michigan, and HathiTrust Digital Library.