Lutsev Vasyl.Hetman Ivan Mazepa: The Life and Activities of the Great Hetman.Toronto, 1954

Dr. Vasyl Lutsev. Hetman Ivan Mazepa: (life and activities of the Great Hetman): with maps and illustrations in the text / foreword by Mykola Andrushchak; [cover by V. Balyas].

Toronto: published by the author, 1954. — 127 p.: ill., port., maps. — 20 cm. — Parallel title page in English.

In a softcover edition: on the front cover — a drawing by V. Balyas with the inscription and date "54", a free interpretation of Leontiy Tarasevych's engraving: a portrait of the Hetman in an oval medallion surrounded by allegorical figures; the author's name and title — in red on the cartouche. The back cover is plain. The cover is darkened and soiled, the back cover has stains and fingerprints; paper losses at the top edge of the spine, at the corners of both pages and near the bottom corner of the front cover, tears along the spine. Natural yellowing of the pages, stronger at the edges. The block is firm, the text is clean. On the title page at the bottom right, there is an ink signature; on the back endpaper, pencil marks. Condition: good.

The book has historical and cultural value and is of collector's interest.

INFORMATION

Volodymyr Balyas designed the cover based on Leontiy Tarasevych's 1695 engraving — the same one reproduced in the book on p. 31: the Hetman in a medallion, surrounded by allegorical figures. The work is the first part of Lutsev's doctoral dissertation at the University of Ottawa on Mazepa in European literature: to compare the literary image of the Hetman with historical reality, the author dedicated it to an overview of his life. Seven chapters lead from the Mazepa-Kolodynsky family and the Mazepyntsi estate, granted in 1544, through service under the Hetmans, the alliance with Charles XII until death in exile; further — bibliography and explanations. Among the illustrations — a portrait from the Gripsholm gallery, a portrait found by V. Riznychenko in Baturyn, a miniature by V. Dyadynyuk, the title page of "Die Europäische Fama" of 1704/1706 with a portrait of the Hetman, his own signature, a 1662 saber, a watermark of Mazepa's paper of 1705, a military seal and a reconstruction of the house of the Kyiv Academy of Volodymyr Sichynsky.

The foreword was written by historian Mykola Andrushchak (1902–1985), who welcomes the author as a "new Mazepist". The book is dedicated to Professor Volodymyr Kysilevsky — a descendant of the companion of the Hetman's retinue Anton Kysilevsky, who "shared the fate and misfortune of Hetman Mazepa". Vasyl Lutsev — a historian and bibliographer of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada, author of the work "Ukrainians and the Polish Revolt of 1863" (New Haven, 1961).

The edition was published in Toronto at the author's own expense, with a separate English title page.