The poem “A Game in Hell” by Velimir Khlebnikov and Aleksey Kruchyonykh was published twice while both authors were still alive. The first edition appeared in 1912, its print run was only 300 copies. It was illustrated by Natalya Sergeyevna Goncharova.

In the book, Aleksey Kruchyonykh used a font, which resembled the Old Slavonic script. Some copies were published with the drawings that the author had colored himself. The second edition of the poem was different from the first one because the volume was bigger, the verses were arranged differently and there was no punctuation. It was issued in 1914 by the “ЕУЫ” publishing house, founded by Kruchyonykh. The print run was 800 copies.

This book is an outstanding example of handwritten books: the authors completely abandoned typesetting in the process of their creation. All the texts and illustrations were written and drawn by hand. In fact, this was an attempt to revive the traditions of medieval manuscripts.

The book was printed using lithography. The cover design and three drawings were created by Kazimir Severinovich Malevich, and other illustrations — by Olga Vladimirovna Rozanova. The text was handwritten by Aleksey Kruchyonykh.

The bizarre evil creatures in Rozanova’s images filled not only the page margins but the entire space of the book: Nina Albertovna Guryanova noted that they “unceremoniously crawled into the free and dynamic lines of the text spread all over the page.” Devils and witches seem to leap from page to page, outrunning the reader and playing their own games.

The publication was prepared in November and December of 1913, and in the process, the poem was repeatedly revised by Aleksey Kruchyonykh and then corrected by Velimir Khlebnikov. Interestingly enough, the poem was the first joint effort of the founders of the zaum language.

According to Aleksey Kruchyonykh’s recollections, Velimir added his own thoughts to the draft of his first poem,