Albom risunkov k sochineniiam A.N. Ostrovskogo: Temnoe tsarstvo [Album of illustrations for the Ostrovskii's plays: The Kingdom of Darkness].

OSTROVSKII, Aleksandr Mikhailovich.

Published by Izdanie Germana Kornfelda, St. Peterburg,, 1881

About this Item

--- Lifetime edition of illustrations for Aleksandr Ostrovskii's plays created by the staff artists of the Saint Petersburg humorous periodical "Strekoza" (published in 1875 - 1918). The lithographed plates after A.N. Bogdanov, A.I. Lebedev, M.N. Malyshev, V.I. Porfiriev and V.S. Shpakov Illustrate fifteen plays by the celebrated Russian playwright. Among them are his masterpieces "Bednaia Nevesta" (The Poor Bride; 1851), "Bednost ne porok" (Poverty Is No Disgrace; 1853) and "Svoi liudi sochtemsia" (It's a Family Affair, We'll Settle It Among Ourselves). The latter one, written in 1850, provoked an outcry because it exposed bogus bankruptcy cases among Moscow merchants and brought about Ostrovskii's dismissal from the civil service. The play was banned for 13 years. The title of this publications comes from a famous article about the Ostrovskii's work published by the critic N.A Dobroliubov in 1859. In it, Dobroliubov argued that the primary value of Ostrovskii's works was "their unadulterated truth", their "faithfulness to reality", before going on to argue that the underlying motive for Ostrovskii's work was social criticism, the desire to challenge Russian life. His plays, Dobroliubov asserted, were a protest against the tyranny to be found in this "Dark Kingdom" (namely Russian society). Aleksandr Ostrovskii (1823 1886) is generally considered the greatest representative of the Russian realistic period. The author of 47 original plays, Ostrovskii is thought to have "almost single-handedly created a Russian national repertoire" (Encyclopaedia Britannica). Provenance: Avenir Nizoff (émigré, pianist, who lived in Edmonton, Canada, in the second half of the 20th century, and gathered a large, wide-ranging library of Russian works, especially covering art, history and literature). Physical description: Folio (43 x 32 cm). Title, preface, 15 black and white plates with captions and extracts from plays. Binding Publisher's paper covers, cloth spine. Condition:Scratches on boards, tears to spine. Bibliography:A History of Russian Theatre, edited by Robert Leach, Victor Borovsky, Andy Davies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, p. 170.

Seller Inventory # 315

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Albom risunkov k sochineniiam A.N. Ostrovskogo: Temnoe tsarstvo [Album of illustrations for the Ostrovskii's plays: The Kingdom of Darkness].
• Publisher: Izdanie Germana Kornfelda, St. Peterburg,
• Publication Date: 1881
• Binding: Hardcover