GRIGORIEV B.D. (1886-1939) Raseya [Rasseya]; text by P.E. Shchegolev, N.E. Radlov and Boris Grigoriev. Petrograd: V.M. Yasny; printed by R. Golike and A. Vilborg, 1918.

42, [1] pp.: ill., 1 leaf frontispiece, [32] pp. of illustrations; 34 x 24 cm. Edition of 750 numbered copies. Copy no. 619. Two title pages, in Russian and French. Frontispiece in colour halftone. 32 black-and-white lithographic illustrations mounted on both sides of leaves of wallpaper from the Likhachev factory. In the publisher’s illustrated boards covered with floral-patterned paper. Paper label with title and the author’s illustration on the front board. In good condition. Wear to the binding, losses of paper along the edges of the boards and spine, crack along the spine, soiling and losses to the label on the upper board, faint stain along the endpaper, traces of glue along the spine on the rear endpaper. Boris Dmitrievich Grigoriev (1886-1939) was an outstanding Russian artist, a brilliant representative of the avant-garde, one of the most expensive and enigmatic, rightly counted among the greatest portraitists; a recognised master of graphic art and a skilful book illustrator. He gained recognition early but was forced to emigrate from Petrograd during the Civil War. Living in the West, he never lost his originality, remaining true to his roots and his love for his homeland. The album ‘Raseya’ is one of Boris Grigoriev’s most ambitious works, his principal graphic cycle, capturing in a grotesque manner the images and types of the Russia of his day. First edition. A bibliographical rarity. Literature: Gubar, no. 1514; Seslavinsky. Books for Gourmets, no. 44; M.S. Russian Book Rarities of the 20th Century, no. 85.