Performing Arts: Theatre, Dance, Cinema

Image for ANTHONY & HASKELL. Ballet. Camera Studies. First edition, inscribed; limited to 100 copies. London, 1937 #3

One of only 100 copies - not only signed by Anthony, but inscribed by Haskell too

ANTHONY, Gordon and Arnold HASKELL

Ballet. Camera Studies

Bles, London, 1937. £1,250

Fine example of this classic record of the Ballets Russes, with the signatures of both authors, which is unusual.

Image for TOLSTOY, L. Vlast Tmy [The Power of Darkness]. First edition, Moscow, 1887. #2

"For adults" as printed on the title page

TOLSTOY, Lev

Vlast Tmy [The Power of Darkness]

Sytin, Moskva, 1887. £1,100

First edition of Tolstoy's play, forbidden for the stage during some years. A very good example in contemporary binding.

Image for YAROSLAVENKO. Ukrainski marshi... First edition, Lviv, ca. 1927. #2

Patriotic marches in 1920s Western Ukraine

YAROSLAVENKO, Ya[roslav]

Ukrainski marshi na trubnu orkhestru. Marsh Sichovykiv. Pershi Zaporozhtsi [Ukrainian Marches for Trumpet Orchestra. March of the Sich Riflemen. The First Zaporozhian Cossacks]

Muzychna Nakladnia "Torban", Lviv, [ca. 1927]. £450

Exceedingly rare edition, with no other copies found. An interesting production from a music publisher in early 20th-century Western Ukraine, then in Poland.

Image for BARBIER & VAUDOYER. Album dédié à Tamar Karsavina. First edition. Paris, 1914. #2

With the plates in beautiful, fresh condition

BARBIER, George (artist) and Jean-Louis VAUDOYER

Album dédié à Tamar Karsavina

Collections Pierre Corrard, Paris, 1914. £3,950

Fine example of the first edition. Barbier, a great art-deco artist and illustrator, celebrates here one of the star dancers of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes - a beautiful production in appealing condition.

Image for SHAKESPEARE & GRIGORIEV. Sheilok [The Merchant of Venice]. First edition of this translation. St. Petersburg, 1860. #2

Praised for its quality

SHEKSPIR [William SHAKESPEARE] and Apollon GRIGORIEV (translator)

Sheilok, Venetsianskii zhid [Shylock, The Merchant of Venice [or in this case] The Jew of Venice]

F. Stellovskii, Skt. Peterburg, 1860. £1,950

Very rare translation into Russian of Shakespeare 'Merchant of Venice'. An appealing example.

Image for TRAUBERG & KHODASEVICH. Akter amerikanskogo kino [Actor of American Cinema]. First edition, Leningrad, 1927. #2

"Through the USA - to the USSR" (p. 10)

TRAUBERG, Il[ia] and V[alentina] KHODASEVICH (artist)

Akter amerikanskogo kino [The Actor in American Cinema]

Leningrad, Academia, 1927. £750

First edition of this scarce, developed study of American cinema in the 1920s. A pleasant copy, in its original photomontage wrappers.

Image for OPERA & COSTUMES. A Collection of Costume designs. 1940s #2

Glitter, colours and traditions

[OPERA COSTUMES IN UKRAINE AND AZERBAIJAN]

Collection of Costume Designs for Opera and Ballet

USSR, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, [1940s]. £3,950

From Ukraine to Azerbaijan: a rich and unusual group of watercolour costumes for various operas given in theatres of these countries.

Image for PICASSO, GONCHAROVA, LARIONOV etc. Grand Bal Travesti - Transmental. First edition, Paris, 1923. #2

The complete set

LARIONOV, M[ikhail], Nataliia GONCHAROVA, Ilia ZDANEVICH, [Pablo] PICASSO and others

Grand Bal Travesti / Transmental [Programme, Ticket and Handbill]

Francois Bernouard for Union des Artistes Russes, Paris, 1923. £1,950

Lovely gathering of three 'ephemera' items produced for the first Russian ball of the avant-garde in Paris - an eclectic show with music and dances in newly designed costumes. With Larionov's ticket, Goncharova's handbill and the famous programme with many artistic contributions.

Image for TOLSTOY, Zhivoi Trup [A Living Corpse], first book edition in the original Russian, Moscow, 1912 #1

Tolstoy's answer to Chekhov - unopened

TOLSTOY, Lev Nikolaevich [TOLSTOI]

Zhivoi trup. Drama v 6 deistviyakh i 12 kartinakh [A Living Corpse. A drama in 6 acts and 12 scenes]

I.D. Sytin for Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya, Moskva, 1912. £1,000

First separate edition of Tolstoy's play, a large-format quality production, with illustrations. A lovely example, unopened in the charming art-nouveau wrappers.

Tolstoy wrote in his diary, "that in A Living Corpse there are notes inspired by Chekhov's work. Such is the secret of artistic creativeness".

Image for COCTEAU & IRIBE. Vaslav Nijinsky. First edition, Paris, 1910. #2

Art-deco elegance at its best

IRIBE, Paul (artist) and Jean COCTEAU

Vaslav Nijinsky

Société Générale d'Impression, Paris, [1910]. £1,500

Excellent example of this classic celebration of the star of Diaghilev's Ballets russes. First edition.

Image for Gd Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich ROMANOV. Musical Sketches, Potpurri. Manuscript, 1888. #2

La Marseillaise, European operas, and romantic Russian songs

[ROMANOV, Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich] – TSVETKOV M. and Vasilii KITAEV (artist)

Muzykalnyia stsenki. Popuri [Musical Sketches. Potpourri]

Skt. Peterburg, [8 November] 1888. £8,750

An interesting compilation of various international and Russian music, all manuscript, with a lovely watercolour title page and all kept in a refined master binding: a very attractive imperial portfolio made for the Grand Duke. Very rare.

Image for BALLETS RUSSES: BARBIER and YORKE, Three works, First editions, 1913-20. #2

Dancing stars in more than 30 pochoir plates and attractively bound

BARBIER, George, and Arabella YORKE (artists), Jean-Louis VAUDOYER, Francis de MIOMANDRE and Cyril BEAUMONT

Album dédié à Tamar Karsavina [BOUND WITH] The Art of Lydia Lopokova [BOUND WITH] Designs on the Dances of Vaslav Nijinsky

I. Paris, Collections Pierre Corrard; II & III. London, C. W. Beaumont, 1914, 1920 and 1913. £12,500

Scarce gathering of Yorke's beautiful and rare publication and both Barbier's 'albums', all bound at the time in a fine blue calf signed binding - a fine volume indeed.

Image for L. BAKST. Feia kukol. First edition of the postcards, 1904. #2

Charming ballet costumes in postcards

BAKST, Leon

Feia kukol [La Fée des poupées]

Ilin, Skt. Peterburg, 1904. £2,750

A complete set of these lovely postcards showing ballet costumes by the master of the genre, who would later be central to Diaghilev's 'Ballets Russes'.

Image for CHEKHOV, A. Cherry Orchard, second edition. St. Petersburg, 1904. #2

In the lovely art-nouveau wrappers

CHEKHOV, Anton

Vishnevyi Sad [Cherry Orchard]

A.F.Marks, Skt Peterburg, 1904. £1,500

Uncommon edition of Chekhov's masterpiece, with only the publisher's wrappers different from the first edition. A pleasant example.

Image for STANISLAVSKII, K. Photograph inscribed. Moscow, 1911. #2

Chekhov's innovative director

STANISLAVSKII, Konstantin Sergeevich

Cabinet photograph signed to Andrei Pavlovich Petrovskii

Scherer, Nabholz & Co, Moskva, [c. 1911]. £3,750

Excellent photograph of the famous director, beautifully inscribed to a fellow man of theatre.

Image for Russian optical theatre in Moscow during Pushkin's time #1

Optical theatre in 1830s Moscow

MISHO, Genrikh

Mekhanicheskii Teatr Sveta. Obiavlenie [Mechanical Theatre of Light. Announcement]

Mosk. Vedomosti, Mosk. Universitet, Moskva, 1833. £500

Rare broadside for series of entertainments in Moscow, including an optical theatre of animated figures by a versatile performer and craftsman.

Image for Illustrated broadside for an optical theatre in Moscow #1

Optical theatre in 1830s Moscow

KUPARENKO, Iordakii

Kinetozograficheskie vidy. Obiavlenie [Kinetozographic Views. Announcement]

Mosk. Vedomosti, Mosk. Universitet, Moskva, 1834. £650

Rare broadside for an impressive Russian kinetozographic theatre of 400 animated figures in Pushkin's Moscow, by a hot-air balloon enthusiast now in the Guinness World Records.

Image for BAKST, LEVINSON, A. Sleeping Princess, first edition, 1923. #1

Very clean, in the publisher's slipcase

[BAKST] – LEVINSON, André

The Designs of Léon Bakst for the Sleeping Princess

London, Benn Brothers, 1923. £1,950

One of the great books on Bakst's talent - the only one devoted to a specific ballet. A copy remarkable for its cleanliness, especially of the fragile original binding.

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