It was Ambroise Vollard who had initiated Chagall's involvement with Les Ames mortes in 1923. Tériade took over the project after the war, finally publishing the book in 1948. Chagall was probably the best person to illustrate this masterpiece of Russian literature. From his own experiences Chagall knew the fate of the peasant in Russia, having suffered the hardship and humiliations in the ghetto. Through Gogol's words, read aloud to the artist by his wife, Chagall conjured up a visual poetry to match the adventures of Pavel Tsitsjikov buying the dead souls from landowners. The prints show his deep-felt compassion, while humour and pathos have equal importance.

In 1924 and 1925 Chagall devoted most of his time to designing the illustrations for this book. They are still very much in the vein of his Vitebsk period, being close to the prints in Mein Leben, although etching has been used rather than drypoint. The artist made discreet use of aquatint to add tone and texture.

According to Jacques Lassaigne: 'C'est la représentation la plus fidèle et la plus juste qui ait jamais été donnée de la réalité russe aujourd'hui révolue...' (quoted in Marc Chagall, L'Oeuvre gravé, Editions de la Réunion de Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1987, p. 19).