The 2nd State Typography Lithography Workshop was located in Moscow at 9 Trekhprudnyi Lane near the intersection of Mamonovskii Lane. The workshop occupied the former A.A. Levinson Partnership. Levenson's Moscow printing firm dates to 1887 when Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Levenson developed a plant with a speed press. His operation expanded to 450 workers by 1913 and at one point, his firm operated six of Moscow's eighteen high-speed presses. During World War I, Levinson's operation was subjugated under the Zemgorom (Chief Army Supply Committee of the All-Russian Union of Cities and Towns) for use during the war. During the Russian Revolution in 1917, the printing firm was nationalized. It was initially named the 2nd State Typography [Lithography] Workshop and then it was transferred (around 1920) to the MSNKh as the 16th State Printing Workshop.

In May 1919, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee created the State Publishing House of the RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic), Moscow. The State Publishing House had its origins in Imperial Russia as the Royal Print Yard in St. Petersburg. As the Red Army controlled more provinces and cities in former Imperial Russia, the State Publishing House developed offices outside St. Petersburg. The State Publishing House, Moscow is sometimes cited in historical references as the "State Publishing House, RSFSR" signifying its location in the Russian Republic.