1985. Series of four large wall charts forming the periodic table, each poster 60 x 85cm, with a total size of 120 x 170cm; offset printed in a number of colours and including a large portrait of Mendeleev; all four tables somewhat browned due to paper quality, each with a number of marginal nicks and tears though with more prominent tears of over 5cms affecting the left margins on two of the posters; despite obvious signs of wear, still a scarce and vibrant survivor. Four large and striking educational wall charts illustrating Dimitri Mendeleev’s famous periodic system, produced by the largest Soviet publisher of educational literature, and seemingly issued to coincide with the 150th anniversary of his birth in 1834. According to the imprint, the posters were printed in a run of 55,000 copies in 1984 and were available to purchase for 30 kopecks each.
Vibrantly printed, the posters include a striking portrait of the chemist, together with a quotation: ‘The future does not threaten the periodic table with doom, but only promises improvement and growth.’ A number of leading Soviet educationalists have collaborated on its production including: Evdokia Mikhailovna Sokoloskaya (1923-2010) a leading Soviet chemist who for many years headed the Department of General Chemistry at the Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University; Igor Evgenievich Shimanovich (1939-) the Belarusian chemist and professor; Vladimir Valentinovich Sorokin, an established biochemist and educator and the author of a number of works; and Viktor Filippovich Tikavy (1930-2002) was a prominent Belarusian chemist, who served as Dean of the Chemical Faculty at the Belarusian State University.