ISTORIYA RUSSKOGO TEATRA ['History of the Russian Theatre'] edited by V.V. Kallash and N.E. Efros, with the close participation of A.A. Bakhrushin and N.A. Popov; artistic direction by K.A. Korovin. Vol. 1 [only]. Moscow: Knigoizdatel’stvo ‘Ob’’edinenie’, 1914.

XII, 364, VIII pp.: ill., [27] plates, portraits, facsimiles; 29 × 22 cm. Publisher’s half leather binding, upper cover and spine ornamentally stamped in gilt, top edge gilt. Good condition. Some wear and minor soiling to the binding, loss to the leather at the spine. Ownership inscription in the upper margin of the title page. Stamp exlibris ‘Lichnaya biblioteka N.B. Ignat’eva’ on the title. The work was intended as the first comprehensive history of Russian dramatic theatre, planned in six volumes; however, the First World War and the Russian revolutions prevented completion of the project. Only the present first and only volume was published, covering the period from 17th-century folk drama to the first productions of ‘Brigadir’ and ‘Nedorosl’. Among the consultants were Aleksey Aleksandrovich Bakhrushin (1865–1929), founder of a major theatre collection later transferred to the Academy of Sciences in 1913, and Nikolay Aleksandrovich Popov (1871–1949), theatre historian and director at the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre. Contributors include A.V. Amfiteatrov, N.L. Brodskiy, V.Ya. Bryusov, A.F. Koni and N.O. Lerner. The artistic section, including the selection of illustrations, was supervised by the painter Konstantin Alekseevich Korovin (1861–1939), also a noted theatre designer for the Imperial Mariinsky and Bolshoi theatres. The series cover was designed by Vasiliy Nikolaevich Masyutin (1884–1955).