Portraits | PY Rare Books

Fascinating and impressive panorama of Russian emigration in China

Russkie v Shankhaie. Russians in Shanghai

Slovo, Shanghai, 1936. £5,750

Fantastic publication on the important Russian community in 1920s-30s Shanghai. Wide-ranging, very richly illustrated, with a wealth of fascinating details. A lovely copy of the first edition, scarce.

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 S. SORINE. Portraits. First edition, full morocco binding. Berlin, 1929. #2

Famous portraits luxuriously bound and with provenance

SORINE, Savely [Savelii Abramovich SORIN] (artist) and André SALMON

Portraits

Edition Ganymed, Berlin, 1929. £5,950

A large, famous publication showing the rich and famous of the roaring twenties: an attractive example of this uncommon publication, coming from a descendant of some of the people portrayed. With the maximum number of plates.

Pushkin in the library of a poet-collector

[PUSHKIN]

Albom Pushkinskoi Vystavki [Album of the Pushkin Exhibition]

K.A. Fisher, Moskva, 1899. £850

A relatively large-format publication with hundreds of illustrations showing Pushkin's creations, personality, friends, contemporaries, as well as later interpretations. From N. Turoverov's collection, an important Cossack officer, poet and collector.

Image for A. NOS. Nachalo dobrovolnago flota. Voluntary Russian fleet. First edition, Moscow, 1890. #2

Extremely rare work on the Russian fleet, in an even rarer binding

NOS, Andrei

Nachalo dobrovolnago flota [The Beginning of the Voluntary Fleet]

Moskva, Rikhter, 1890. £2,750

A diplomatic gift from Nikolay II to the French President Felix Faure, in a great, striking binidng boasting the Russian flag. First edition of this fine illustrated work, very rare as only one other copy traced worldwide.

Image for [ROMANOVS] P. LEBEDEV. Historical album; Portraits of the Royal House of the Russian Land. First edition, very rare. St. Petersburg, 1875. #2

Early photographic album

[ROMANOVS] – P. LEBEDEV (artist)

Istoricheskii albom tysiacheletiia Rossii. Portrety tsarskogo doma zemli russkoi s 862-1862 g [The Millenium of Russia Historical Album. Portraits of the Royal House of the Russian Land 862-1862]

K. Solovev, Skt. Peterburg, 1875. £3,500

Very rare: no copy traced on the Russian market, no copy traced oustide Russia. A luxury celebration of the Russian rulers, with the use of photography, and fine chomolithography. In an impressive full-leather binding.

Image for BENNER. Portraits of the Romanovs. First edition, complete copy. Moscow & St. Petersburg, 1817. #2

Fine stipple-engraved portraits

[ROMANOVS] – Henri BENNER

Sobranie 24-kh portretov imperatorskoi familii. Collection de vingt-quatre portraits de la famille impériale

Saint-Florent, Skt. Peterburg, and Rosenstrauch, Moskva, [1817]. £12,500

Attractive example of these famous portraits, kept here in their original portfolio and complete with both titles and subscribers' lists. Possibly from the Duchesse de Berry collection.

Image for [ROMANOVS] Childhood, Education and Young Years of the Russian Tsars. First edition, in the original Russian. Skt. Peterburg, 1914. #2

With the gilt cover in fine condition

[ROMANOVS] – Ivan Nikolaevich BOZHERIANOV

Detstvo, vospitanie i leta iunosti russkih imperatorov [Childhood, Education and Young Years of Russian Emperors]

Benke, Skt. Peterburg, [1914]. £4,250

Pleasant and attractive example of this great book, a luxurious, richly illustrated production presenting the childhood of the Romanov tsars over 200 years. First edition, scarce in such condition.

Image for SARYKULOVA. Grafika Kazakhstana. First edition, Antoshchenko-Olenev's copy. Alma-Ata, 1967. #2

Kazakh art by a woman art historian - with provenance

SARYKULOVA, Gul-Chara [Abutalipovna]

Grafika Kazakhstana [Graphic art of Kazakhstan]

Izd. 'Nauka' Kaz. SSR ['Nauka' publishing house of the Kazakh SSR], Alma-Ata, 1967. £1,750

A groundbreaking work on art from Kazakhstan, written by a major female figure of Kazakh art history - this copy with great artistic provenance. First edition, uncommon, a choice copy.

Image for N. CHAKIROV. Tsars' coronations & history of the Russian empire. First edition, New York, 1971. #2

In bright condition

CHAKIROV, Nikita (editor)

Tsarskie koronatsii na Rusi iz Istorii Derzhavy Rossiiskoi XVI-XX vv. The history of the Russian Empire

Printed in Japan for the Russian Orthodox Youth Committee, New York, 1971. £950

Fine, fresh example of this luxurious book, which covers the Romanovs' dynasty with an impressive array of illustrations. First edition.

Image for TUMANSKII, F. Peter the Great. Rare first edition, St. Petersburg, 1788. #2

Peter's early days: a scarce, illustrated edition

TUMANSKII, Fedor

Polnoe opisanie deianii ego velichestva gosudaria imperatora Petra Velikago [A Complete Description of the Deeds of Peter the Great]

V Grade Sviatogo Petra [St Petersburg], Shnoor, 1788. £5,950

An early Russian biography of Peter the Great, illustrated and noted for its rarity. Pleasant example in contemporary binding.

Image for KONI? A. Otsy i deti sudebnoi reformy [Judicial Reform]. First edition, Moscow, 1914. #2

Celebrating progress in Russia's legal system

KONI, Anataolii Fedorovich

Otsy i deti sudebnoi reformy. K piatidesiatiletiiu Sudebnykh ustavov. 1864-1914 [Fathers and Children of the Judicial Reform]

Sytin, Moskva, 1914. £500

Fine example of this celebratory work, in the pleasant publisher's binding.

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.

One of the famous covers of the Avant-Garde

ALTMAN, Natan

Lenin. Risunki Natana Altmana [Lenin. Sketches by Natan Altman]

Nar. Kom. po Prosveshcheniiu, Peterburg, 1921. £1,250

A pleasant example of this work, with its famous avant-garde cover design by Altman.

Image for BOURKE-WHITE, Meet Some of the Soviet People. First edition, c.1941 #2

By the first American woman war photojournalist

BOURKE-WHITE, Margaret

Meet Some of the Soviet People

Russian War Relief, Inc., New York, [1941?]. £800

The variety of peoples of the USSR in fine photographic portraits by a great photographer, possibly the most significant woman photographer of her time.