Theatre | PY Rare Books

Image for CHEKHOV, BUNIN, GORKY etc. Znanie collection for 1903; with first edition of Cherry Orchard. St. Peterburg, 1904. #2

First publication of the Cherry Orchard anywhere

CHEKHOV, Anton, Ivan BUNIN, Maksim GORKY and others

Sbornik Tovarishchestva "Znanie" za 1903 god [Collection of the "Knowledge" Society for the year 1903].

Isidor Goldberg, Skt. Peterburg, 1904. £2,950

Fine example of this literary almanac, rarer with both parts of 1903, including the very first publication of Chekhov's famous play. With other first publications by leading Russian authors of the time.

Image for I. GORBUNOV. Sochineniia. First edition thus. Skt. Peterburg, 1904-10. #2

A high point of Russian bibliophily

GORBUNOV, Ivan Fedorovich

Sochineniia [The Works]

Golike i Vilborg, Skt Peterburg, 1904-1910. £1,750

A famous edition among 20th-c. Russian collectors, here in a pleasant example, complete and beautifully fresh internally. A luxurious production, uncommon outside Russia.

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 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 A. GRIBOEDOV. Gore ot Uma [Woe from Wit]. St. Petersburg, 1854. Rare small-format edition. #2

Wit in your pocket - with wrappers

GRIBOEDOV, Aleksandr

Gore ot uma. Komediia v chetyrekh deistviiakh, v stikhakh [Woe from Wit. A Comedy in Four Acts in Verse]

Tip. Shtaba Voenno-Uchebn. Zaved., Skt Peterburg, 1854. £2,500

Rare small-format edition of this famous masterpiece of Russian theatre, a lovely copy with its original wrappers. No copy traced in WorldCat.

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 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 OSTROVSKII, A. Sochineniia [Works]. Moscow, 1890. #2

In uniform contemporary bindings

OSTROVSKII, Aleksandr Nikolaevich

Sochineniia [Works]

V. Dumnov, Nasledniki Br. Salaevykh, Moskva, 1890. £500

Collected works of one of the most important Russian playwrights - the first posthumous edition.

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.

Tolstoy the playwright

TOLSTOY, Lev

Pervyi vinokur ili kak chertenok kraiushku zasluzhil. Komediia [The First Distiller, or How the Little Devil Earned his Crust. A Comedy]

I.D. Sytin for Posrednik, Moskva, 1886. £1,750

First edition of Tolstoy's successful play on wine and some of its effects... Lovely example in wrappers. Scarce.

Image for Diaghilev, Autograph Letter Signed, to Hebertot, 1924. #1

Diaghilev collecting debts

DIAGHILEV, Serge

Autograph letter, signed, to "cher Directeur" [Jacques Hébertot]

Paris, 24 June 1924. £3,950

Very good autograph letter by Diaghilev, the celebrated founder of the Ballets Russes. With his bold signature, which is rarely found.

Image for THOMAS de THOMON, J.-F., Recueil des plans et façades...à Saint-Pétersbourg et...Russie. First edition, St. Petbg., 1806. #2

Some of the most recognisable buildings of St. Petersburg

THOMAS de THOMON, Jean-François

Recueil des plans et façades des principaux monumens construits à Saint Pétersbourg et dans les différentes provinces de l'Empire de Russie

St. Pétersbourg, Pluchart, 1806. £2,250

Scarce architectural work by one of the leading architects of the Russian empire under Tsar Paul 1st, and responsible for some of the most famous buildings in St. Petersburg and Odessa.

Image for V. VALTER. Opera Glinki Ruslan i Liudmila. First edition, St. Petersburg, 1903. Gd. Duke Konstantin Romanov's copy. #2

Out of stock

With prestigious imperial and artistic provenance

[GLINKA] – VALTER, Viktor Grigorievich

Opera M. I. Glinki Ruslan i Liudmila [The Opera 'Ruslan and Ludmila' by Glinka]

Soikin, Skt. Peterburg, 1903.

Excellent copy, with fine, desirable Romanov provenance, of this very rare study of one of the great Russian operas.

Image for BAKST, L. Inedited works. First edition, New York, 1927 #2

Out of stock

In luminous pochoir with silver highlights

[BAKST] – REAU, Louis, Denis ROCHE, Valerian SVETLOV and A. TESSIER

Inedited Works of Bakst

Jacomet and Lang, Paris, for Brentano's, New York, 1927.

Among the best representations of Bakst's costumes for the Ballets Russes, especially remarkable for its pochoir technique. A lovely copy of the first edition.

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