USSR RAILWAY UNION GIFT~HAND-PAINTED KREMLIN/MOSCOW RUSSIAN 'FEDESKINO BOX. Plus Magazines~British National Union Railway Delegation.

Published by Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1951

1951 NUR Visit to Russia Collection of 5 items belonging to Mr. Henry Williford Franklin (13/11/1895~1972). Mr. Franklin, President of the National Union of Railwaymen (NUR) at the time, was part of a British delegation from the National Union of Railwaymen who visited Russia in November, 1951, at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Railway Workers Union of the USSR. The delegation visited Moscow, Leningrad, Dniepropetrovsk, Zaporozhye and Sochi, with a brief stop over at Kharkov. "We set foot in your country on the 6th of November in response to a very kind invitation from the Russian Railway Trade Union for which on behalf of the delegation I should like to express our sincere gratitude. There has been and I believe is still growing a very great interest in all that takes place in the Soviet Union, and naturally all of us were looking forward to having the great privilege od seeing how the Russian railwaymen perform their task under what it was clear to us would be very great difficulties arising from the enormous devastation of the railways of the Soviet Union during the course of the second world war." Delegation members were: J. H. Clifford. A.E. Felce. G.E. Mures. F.G. Thomas. T. Hollywood. H. King. H.W. Franklin. J.B. Figgins. The collection consists of the following 5 items: British Passport belonging to Mr. Franklin. Valid from 1948 to 1953, and used during the 1951 trip to Russia. The passport contains 3 pages of Russian stamps etc., dated 1951 & 1 page of European stramps dated 1951/2. There is also a 'Special Allotment' page at the rear of the book detailing bank withdrawals. --- Magazine: 'Soviet Union' January 1952 No.1 (23) Printed at the 'Pravda' Printing Plant. 24 Ulitsa Pravdy, Moscow Contains many articles including 4 page article 'BRITISH RAILWAYMEN VISIT USSR', with photographs by V. Grebnyov. Soft cover. 41 pages. Roughly 11.55 x 20.75 inches. Contents clean and complete. Staple rusted, though holding firm. Age-related discolouration & wear to covers with wear to lower spine. Some pages 'dog-eared'. --- Small Booklet: 'Sketches of Soviet Life ~ What we saw in the Soviet Union' 'This publication is a reprint of an article published in the magazine Soviet Union' Foreign Languages Publishing House Moscow 1953 Softcover. 19 pages. Roughly 14.5 x 20.5cm. Contents clean and complete. Staples rusted, though holding firm. Light wear to covers with staple holes to top and small tear to lower edge. --- Small Booklet: National Union of Railwaymen publication 'Visit of Delegation from National Union of Railwaymen (Great Britain) to the Soviet Union. November, 1951' Dated at rear 23rd January, 1952 Softcover. 32 pages. 15.5 x 24.5cm. Contents clean and complete. Age-related discolouration & wear to covers with creasing and 'dog-eared' pages. --- A lacquered wooden box with hand-painted 'Fedeskino' style view of Moscow's Kremlin to lid. A birthday present given to Mr. Franklin during the trip by the Central Committee of the Railway Workers Union. Inscribed silver plaque attached to underside of lid reads: 'H. Franklin with the best greetings on the birthday from Central Committee of the Railway workers Union of the USSR November 13, 1951 Moscow.' Artists signature lower right corner. Box measures 5 x 17.5 x 19cm. Few knocks & chips to paint here & there with chip to corner of base and lid. Few 'scratch' type areas of loss to lid where 'raised crazing' has been rubbed. Some tarnishing to hinges, though lid functions fine. Silver plaque bears 3 small stamps which appear to consist of a silver purity mark of '875' or '925', a makers mark & a 'worker's head with hammer' assay mark for Moscow 1954~1958. Seller Inventory # 000626

Bibliographic Details

Title: USSR RAILWAY UNION GIFT~HAND-PAINTED KREMLIN...
Publisher: Foreign Languages Publishing House
Publication Date: 1951
Binding: Soft cover
Condition: Very Good