Four Ceremonials (1 results)

From baptism to wedding --- Attractive group of ceremonials, including a rare luxury full cream calf binding gilt, with purple silk pastedowns, most probably from a close member of the Imperial family. This attractive, high-quality binding adorns the process of Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna's wedding to Prince Nicholas of Greece. On August 16 (29), 1902, in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Grand Duchess Elena Vladimirovna (1882 -1957), the only daughter of Grand Prince Vladimir Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, married Prince Nicholas of Greece (1872-1938) son of the King of the Hellenes George I and Queen Olga Konstantinovna. Both Elena and Nicholas were first cousins of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. Known as "Greek Nicky", to distinguish him from his paternal first cousin Nicholas II, Prince Nicholas was a talented painter, often signing his works as "Nicolas Leprince". Along with his elder brothers Constantine and George, Nicholas helped to organize the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the first to be held since 393. The three other ceremonials cover important family events of Russia's ruling family: the baptism of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the youngest daughter of Tsar Alexander III, in 1882; the 'entrance into adulthood' on St. George's day of a first cousin of the same tsar, Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich then aged 20, in 1889; and the wedding of Sergei's brother, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, with Alexander III's daughter, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna, who would manage to flee revolutionary Russia to eventually settle in the UK. Provenance: Physical description:Four volumes large 8vos (32 x 21 cm). I. Vysochaishe utverzhdennyi tseremonial brakosochetaniia Eia Imperatorskago Vysochestva Velikoi Kniazhny Eleny Vladimirovny s Ego Korolevskim Vysochestvom Korolevichem Nikolaem Grecheskim. 1-12 pp. in Russian, 1-11 pp. in French. Title pages are pp. 1. II. Cérémonial approuvé par sa majesté l'Empereur pour la solennité du mariage [du] Grand-duc Alexandre Mikhailovitch et la Grande-duchesse Xénie Alexandrovna. 1-9pp. including title, in French. III. Vysoch. utverzhd. tseremonial o sv. kreshchenii Ee Imp. Vysoch. Gos. Velik. Kniazhny Olgi Aleksandrovny. In Russian [1-6pp. including title] and French [1-6pp. including title. IV. Vysoch. utverzhd. tseremonial torzhestv. vykhoda v Zimnem Dvortse, 26 noyabrya 1889 goda po sluchayu Ordenskogo prazdnika Sv. Velikomuchenika i Pobedonostsa Georgiia i prisiagi Velik. Kn. Sergiia Mikhailovicha, prinosimoi pri torzhestv. obiavlenii sovershennoletiia Ego Imp. Vysochestva. 1- 7pp. including title. I. Original cream card wrappers with gilt Russian Imperial double-headed eagle on upper cover, silk spine, within full soft cream calf folder with gilt Russian Imperial double-headed eagle and gilt borders to upper cover, gilt borders and magenta silk panels to pastedowns. II-IV. Original red cloth, gilt borders and Russian Imperial eagle to upper cover, red silk ribbon. Condition:Some staining and wear, one cloth with larger waterstain to upper cover. Bibliography: