The Spider and the Fly: the evils of capitalism

May 1, 2017-May 31, 2017
Location: Asia Collection

Please come and learn about the newly acquired Chinese-language pamphlet of the socialist parable attributed to Wilhelm Liebknecht, evidently published in the Soviet Union for the purpose of agitation in China. There is a striking cover illustration by Soviet artist D. Moor. Liebknecht’s tale, in which capitalists are compared to evil spiders and the workers to hapless flies, was an extremely popular text within the Russian revolutionary movement. The booklet was probably printed during one of two waves of Soviet agitation in China, either around 1927, preceding the Nanking Incident, or in the mid-1930s. 

Dongyun Ni, Chinese Specialist Librarian, and Pat Polansky, Russian Bibliographer, organized the exhibit with the help of Mark-Roel Pascua and Joey Brenner (moving cases), Sherman Seiki (Archives), Andrea Nakamura (brilliant signs), and Deborah Dunn (Preservation)