A Soviet Russian hardcover book titled The Knight in the Panthers Skin by Shota Rustaveli. Published by Academia in 1936. Translated from Georgian by Konstantin Balmont. Illustrations by Mihaly Zichy, designed by Boris Shvartz. Shota Rustaveli was a medieval Georgian poet whose main work, The Knight in the Panthers Skin, is considered to be the main national epic poem of Georgia. Academia was a Soviet publishing house that functioned from 1922 till 1937. The publishing house employed many prominent Russian graphic artists and issued over one thousand books during its existence, mostly intellectual and classical literature. Konstantin Balmont, 1867 to 1942, was a Russian Symbolist poet and translator. Mihaly Zichy, 1827 to 1906, was a Hungarian painter and graphic artist, his illustrations for the Rustavelis poem are dated 1881. Boris Shvarts, 1906 to 1967, was a Soviet illustrator. Antiquarian Librarian Books Albums For Collectors, Rare Soviet Books.