Hermitage Fine Art is now accepting lots for the upcoming autumn–winter season and invites collectors wishing to consign valuable works of art and rare editions for the upcoming season. Since 2017, the auction house has successfully held sales of rare collectible books, autographs, manuscripts and historical documents, photographs and printed graphics.

More than 2,000 potential buyers from 23 countries consistently take part in our book auctions. With starting prices ranging from €50 to €1,000,000, our auctions offer an exceptional diversity of works, appealing to both beginning and seasoned collectors alike. Items of interest can be purchased on five online platforms, by telephone, or directly in the room, ensuring easy participation and a lively, competitive atmosphere.

Today, Hermitage Fine Art works with editions across the widest range of subjects. Our highly experienced experts carry out professional attribution and valuation of antiques, which is why every sale achieves strong results. Some examples of our outstanding sales:

Lifetime editions of classics of world and Russian literature

Works by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin: the first edition of Sobranie stikhotvoreniy ['Collected Poems'], 1829, sold for €24,000; the last lifetime edition of Evgeniy Onegin ['Eugene Onegin'], 1837, published shortly before the poet's fatal duel, sold for €6,000.

Mikhail Lomonosov's treatise on literary theory, Ritorika ['Rhetoric'], 1748, sold for €1,400; one of the few lifetime editions of Alexander Sumarokov's Stikhotvoreniya ['Poems'], printed in Moscow in 1769, sold for €1,700; the first lifetime edition of Yakov Knyazhnin's Sobranie sochineniy ['Collected Works'], 1778, sold for €1,800.

The second edition of Alexander Griboyedov's comedy Gore ot uma ['Woe from Wit'], 1839, a rare miniature edition, sold for €1,600; the first separate edition of Ivan Goncharov's novel Obryv ['The Precipice'], 1870 — €1,700.

First editions of Silver Age poets, including inscribed copies

Osip Mandelshtam's first book, Kamen' ['Stone'], 1923, with an inscription recognised as one of the earliest of the poet's autographs on this edition ever to appear on the present-day antiques market, sold for €50,000; the first edition of Sergei Yesenin's poem Pugachov, 1922, with a well-known autograph addressed to the writer Emil Krotky and his wife, sold for €2,500. Autographs of Nikolai Gumilev: Kolchan ['The Quiver'], 1916 — €4,000, Mik, 1918 — €2,800; a watercolour signed by Maximilian Voloshin sold for €3,400.

A unique handwritten autograph notebook containing Konstantin Balmont's translations of Polish, Lithuanian, Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian poetry (1928), from the archive of Serge Lifar, sold for €59,000.

Among the lifetime editions of Vladimir Mayakovsky, which always generate lively interest among collectors, of particular note is the poet's first book, Ya ['I'], [1913], sold for €3,600; a rare, well-preserved copy of Dlya golosa ['For the Voice'], designed by El Lissitzky — the finest example of Constructivist book design — sold for €1,900; and the collection Sifilis ['Syphilis'], with a cover by Alexander Rodchenko, sold for €700.

A truly unique copy of Slovo o polku Igoreve ['The Tale of Igor's Campaign'] with illustrations by Mstislav Dobuzhinsky (New York, 1950), hand-coloured by the artist, one of only two known copies signed and numbered by the artist himself, and one of four known coloured copies, sold for €13,000.

Unique documents and manuscripts — testimony of their era

Autographs of Russian emperors and members of the House of Romanov:

The secret Treaty of Björkö, 1905, personally signed by two emperors, Nicholas II and Wilhelm II, off the Baltic island of Björkö (near Vyborg) aboard the imperial yacht Polyarnaya Zvezda ['Polar Star'], sold for €2,500.

A lengthy autograph letter by Nicholas II concerning events of the First World War, addressed to his uncle, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich, 1916, sold for €11,000.

A postcard sent by Grand Duchess Olga, bearing a handwritten note and the signature of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, together with the signatures of Grand Duchesses Olga, Maria and Anastasia, 1917, sold for €5,500.

Among the autographs of Russian artists: autograph letters by Nicholas Roerich addressed to Denis Roche, dated 1910, each sold for €3,000.

Books of the Impressionists and the Russian avant-garde

One of the earliest books on the Russian avant-garde, the anthology Studiya impressionistov ['Studio of the Impressionists'], edited by Nikolai Kulbin, containing the first published works of Velimir Khlebnikov, 1910, sold for €3,500.

The first and only issue of Wassily Kandinsky's almanac Siniy vsadnik ['The Blue Rider'], 1912, with the original publisher's wrappers preserved — a great rarity — sold for €1,300.

Velimir Khlebnikov's first book of poems, Ryav! Perchatki ['Roar! Gloves'], [1914], illustrated by Kazimir Malevich and David Burliuk, sold for €1,200.

The first and only edition of Mikhail Larionov's theoretical work Luchist ['The Rayist'], 1913, sold for €850.

Émigré editions by Russian writers and poets

An uncensored edition of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel Master i Margarita ['The Master and Margarita'], 1969, with its dust jacket preserved, sold for €3,800.

The American edition of Joseph Brodsky's collection A Part of Speech, 1980, inscribed by the author, sold for €600.

Iconic photographs by celebrated photographers

Photographs of world-famous personalities, including signed prints:

A photograph of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow by Alexander Rodchenko, from the collection of the photographer's grandson, sold for €1,000.

A world-famous work by Elliott Erwitt, a classic of documentary photography, signed by the photographer, sold for €3,000.

A collection of seven vintage photographs of Salvador Dalí depicting scenes from his life, 1955–1973, sold for €2,200.

The first French edition of Steven Meisel's photography album Madonna. Sex (Paris, 1992), a numbered edition with erotic photographs, sold for €1,000.

A group of 20 photographs of performers from the legendary Soviet circus, 1941–1952, from the collection of the noted collector D.V. Robinson (1930–1992), sold for €2,000.

Limited-edition lithographed books illustrated by artists who defined their eras

One of 20 copies not for sale of the joint album by Robert Desnos and Joan Miró, Nakazaniya Ada ['The Punishments of Hell'], 1974, complete with a portfolio containing five reproductions of drawings made in 1929, sold for €5,000.

A series of twenty original lithographs, Jeux de Dames, by the French Expressionist artist Bernard Buffet, created in 1970, all signed by the artist, sold for €14,000.

Among the highlights was Cosmographia by Sebastian Münster, published in Basel in 1556—a significant French edition of one of the most influential geographical and cartographic works of the 16th century. This richly illustrated, engraved edition sold for €4,000.

Learn more about our sales — outstanding lots, remarkable results, press coverage and details on how to take part — on our website. We speak four languages and welcome consignments from collectors around the world.

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