KONSTANTIN KONSTANTINOVICH (1858-1915), Grand Duke

Tsar Iudeyskiy [The Judean Tsar: a drama in four acts and five scenes] / K.R. St. Petersburg: Ministry of Internal Affairs Press, 1914. - 204, 14 pp., [46] leaves of portraits, sheet music, color illustrations, [1] leaf of plans; 33.7x25 cm. Heliogravure and autotype illustrations on separate sheets. The publisher's cover and inserts are the work of P. Liben. Each text page is framed with ornaments. It is bound in a composite publisher's binding. The covers are pasted with white knee leather. The spine has an overlap and corners made of green leather. The front cover bears the title of the edition in colored embossing. The spine has gold embossing: a ribbon ornament and the author's initials "K.R." The composite endpapers imitate moire paper. The top edge is gilt. It is in good condition. Rubbings and stains on the binding, and a visible crack at the beginning of the block. The title page bears an owner's inscription in ballpoint pen: "Archimandrite Evtropiy." The edition is illustrated with colored sketches of costumes and stage decorations, scenes from the performance, photographs of its participants and organizers, and a facsimile of A.K. Glazunov's musical autograph. At the end, the program of the staging of "The Judean Tsar," which took place in January 1914, is reproduced, along with photos from the drama and portraits of the characters based on K.A. Fisher's photographs. The plates and printing of the color autotypes and heliogravures were done by the partnership of R. Golike and A. Vilborg. The costume sketches were executed under the supervision of P.K. Stepanov. The set designs were the work of N.N. Boldyrev. The curtain sketches were done by I.G. Okorokov. The color drawings of scenes based on photographs by K.A. Fisher were executed by M.I. Khvostenko. The author of the drama "The Judean Tsar" is Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov (1827-1892), a first cousin of Nicholas II and the president of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, who wrote under the pseudonym K.R. The drama is dedicated to the last days of the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Despite its high artistic and moral level and positive reviews, the drama was banned by the Holy Synod. The performance was allowed as an exception in 1914 to the literary and theatrical association "Izmaylovskie Dosugi," created at the initiative of Konstantin Romanov, as the members of the association were not a professional troupe. Only a few shows of the play took place in the Hermitage Court Theater, mainly for a high-ranking audience. This luxurious edition was dedicated to the first staging of "The Judean Tsar" and was published in a limited edition. Soon, the drama was translated into nine languages. By 1916, it had undergone five editions in Russia with a total circulation of 50,000 copies, and in 1918, a film with the same name as the drama was released.