Costumes | PY Rare Books

First edition of this groundbreaking work, complete

Description de toutes les nations de l'empire de Russie.

Weitrecht (part 3) et Schnoor for Charles Guillaume Muller, St. Petersbourg, 1776-7. £14,500

First edition of this fundamental work on the Russian empire and its peoples, the result of a multi-year field trip by Georgi. The first work published in Russia with plates coloured by hand. Rare complete as here.

Image for KRAFFT, H. A Travers le Turkestan russe. First edition, Paris, 1902. #2

Central Asia in beautifully subtle tones

KRAFFT, Hugues

A Travers le Turkestan Russe

Hachette et Cie, Paris, 1902. £4,000

Remarkable photographic record of nowadays Uzbekistan and neighbouring regions - a beautiful, luxury production, and a fine example of the deluxe version, in beautiful, fresh condition.

Image for [RUSSIAN ARMY] Mundiry Imperatorskoi Rossiiskoi Armii. Five manuscript sheets. St. Petersburg, 1850s. #3

In manuscript of the highest quality

[MILITARY – WATERCOLOURS]

Mundiry Imperatorskoi Rossiiskoi Armii [Uniforms of the Imperial Russian Army]

[Skt. Peterburg, 1850s]. £8,500

Superb set of very rare military tables in fine manuscript and gouache with gold and silver highlights. Of probable imperial provenance.

Image for VISHNEVSKII. Three Tatar People. Original photographs, Astrakhan, ca. 1870s. #2

Early photographs of Tatars

VISHNEVSKII, Stepan Mikhailovich

[Three Portraits of Tatar People]

[Astrakhan, early 1870s]. £650

Fine portraits of three people from Tatarstan, in traditional dress. Rare to find such early photographs of Tatar people, and in such fresh condition.

Image for SEBAH. Georgian Man. Photography, ca. 1880s. #2

In traditional dress

SEBAH, Pascal

Portrait of a Georgian Man

Constantinople, [c.1880]. £125

Lovely carte-de-visite portrait by the leading photographer based in Constantinople.

Image for PAJOL. Armée Russe. First edition, complete. Paris, 1856. #3

A French officer pays artistic homage to the military style of his opponent

PAJOL, Charles Pierre, Comte de (Lieut.-colonel)

Armée Russe

Auguste Bry et Lemercier, Paris, 1856. £32,500

A remarkable visual record of Russian military uniforms just before the Crimean War. With beautiful full-page plates. Scarce, especially complete as here. With fine provenance: from the French Bibliothèque Impériale.

Image for F. BASTIN. L'Armée russe. First edition, complete. Paris & Russia, 1840s #2

Extremely rare colourful costumes

BASTIN, F[erdinand] (artist)

L'Armée russe [manuscript title]

Lemercier, Paris, for Daziaro, Paris and Russia, [1840s]. £4,500

Extremely rare lithographed plates with original hand-colour, mostly showing officers' costumes of the Russian Imperial Guard. A complete copy, in attractive condition.

Image for PALLAS & GEISSLER. Travels through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire. London, 1812. #2

From the Caspian Sea to Crimea, extensively illustrated

PALLAS, Peter Simon

Travels through the Southern Provinces of the Russian Empire [Translated from German by F.W.Blagdon].

Stockdale, London, 1812. £1,750

Fresh example of this classic travel account through Southern Russia, Ukraine and the Crimea - richly illustrated with original hand-colour. In a sturdy modern binding.

Image for J. BADDELEY. Russia, Mongolia, China. First edition. London, 1919. #2

A splendid copy, unusually bound

BADDELEY, John F

Russia, Mongolia, China

London, Macmillan & Co, 1919. £4,750

Impressive example of the first edition, with a signed binding featuring two 1767 Russian coins. One of the greatest 20th-c. books on Eastern Russia, Siberia, and the historical relations with their neighbours. A fascinating and beautiful production.

Image for LEVCHINE, A. Description des hordes..., Première édition en français, exemplaire Barante, Paris, 1840. #2

By the "Herodot of Kazakh steppes" - the dedicatee's copy

LEVCHINE, Alexis de [Aleksei Iraklevich LEVSHIN, also LIOVSHIN]

Description des hordes et des steppes des Kirghiz-Kazaks ou Kirghiz-Kaïssaks

Imprimerie royale for Arthus Bertrand, Paris, 1840. £2,750

The first extensive study of the people of Kazakhstan: first French edition, with the same illustrations as the original Russian edition; including a folding map of the area, which was very rare at the time. This is the copy which belonged to 'Le Baron de Barante', the dedicatee of the translation.

Image for C. de BRUIN [LE BRUN]. Reizen over Moskovie. Amsterdam, 1714. #2

A fresh, crisp example of this celebrated travel account

BRUIN [BRUYN], Cornelis de

Reizen over Moskovië door Persië en Indië: verrykt met driehondert kunstplaten

Wetstein et al., Amsteldam, 1714. £7,500

One of the great accounts of Russia under Peter the Great, as well as Persia, especially remarkable for the wealth of illustrations. Here in a beautifully fresh example of this Dutch edition.

Image for CHAPPE d'AUTEROCHE. Voyage en Sibérie. First edition, in contemporary binding. Paris, 1768. #2

Attractive copy of this famous travel account

CHAPPE D’AUTEROCHE, Jean-Baptiste and Stepan Petrovich KRASHENINNIKOV

Voyage en Sibérie, fait par ordre du Roi en 1761; contenant les moeurs, les usages des Russes, et l'etat actuel de cette puissance [and] contenant la description du Kamchatka

Debure, Paris, 1768. £9,750

A very fresh copy of the first edition of one of the great French travels abroad, and a classic representative of French 18th-century publishing, with many artistic illustrations, engraved maps, and high quality printing. With a wealth of details on Russian, Siberia, the Russian Far East, including Kamchatka and the Northern Pacific.

Image for I. BILIBIN. Sakzki [Six Volumes of Russian Folk Tales]. First editions. St. Petersburg, 1901-1903 #2

The epitome of the Russian children book

BILIBIN, Ivan (artist)

Skazki [Folk Tales]

Skt. Peterburg, Eksp. Zagotovl. Gos. Bumag, 1901-1903. £4,950

Fine, complete set of the six children books which made Bilibin's fame so long lasting. All in first edition, beautifully preserved.

Image for N.B. [BOGATOV] and PEROV. Russian Types. Chromolithographs, first edition; Moscow, 1889. #2

No other set traced

N.B. [presumably Nikolai Alekseevich BOGATOV] and Vasilii PEROV (artists)

Russkie tipy [Russian types]

Kushnerev i Ko, Moskva, [ca. 1889]. £375

Lovely set of depictions of various peoples of the Rusisan empire, most probably published for the Paris 'Exposition Universelle'. Of great rarity, as we couldn't find any other example. With (most of) the original printed envelope.

Image for GEISSLER, GRUBER & RICHTER. Russian Folk Amusements. First edition, Leipzig 1801. Complete with hand-coloured plates #2

Partying in late 18th-c. Russia

GEISSLER, [Christian Gottfried Heinrich], J.G. GRUBER and J. RICHTER

Russische Volke-Vergnügungen [Russian Folk Amusements]

Leipzig, Im Industrie Comptoir, [1801]. £5,750

Very rare large-format plates in striking colours, by a master of the genre. Last copy traced on the market: in 1931, incomplete.

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 MORNAY, DUBOURG & CLARK. A Picture of St. Petersburg. First edition, London, 1815. With original hand-colour and finely bound. #2

Saint Petersburg in colours

MORNAY (artist)

A Picture of St. Petersburg, represented in a Collection of Twenty interesting Views of the City, the Sledges, and the People. Taken on the Spot, at the twelve different Months of the Year: and accompanied with an Historical and Descriptive Account

Howlett and Brimmer, and Dove for Edward Orme, London, 1815. £14,500

A finely bound copy of this cornerstone of any Russian, or indeed colour-plate collection, showing the Northern Capital in colours and in all seasons, as Napoleon would have seen it if....

Image for HERBERSTEIN, ODERBORN and others. Rerum Moscoviticarum. Francfort, 1600. In contemporary binding. #3

Russia in the 16th century Russia - with the three maps

HERBERSTEIN, Sigismund von, Paulo GIOVIO, Paul ODERBORN and others

Rerum Moscoviticarum auctores varii, unum in corpus nunc primum congesti

Francofurti, Cl. Marnius & Ioann. Aubrius, 1600. £6,500

Important edition gathering Herberstein's famous description of early Russia together with other related works, to give a wide-ranging understanding of Muscovy. With aristocratic provenance, in contemporary binding, and complete with its famous illustrations and maps, including Moscow's first printed plan.

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