Profession by Sergei Obraztsov: Signed (2 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition thus of Sergei Obraztsov s memoir, published in 1950 by Moscow s Foreign Languages Publishing House. Obraztsov (1901-1992) was a Russian puppeteer and theater personality (actor, director, painter, puppet theater theoretician, writer) credited with establishing puppetry as a serious art form in the USSR. His new puppet theater based on the Stanislavski method enjoyed great success both in the USSR and internationally. From 1976 to 1984 Obraztsov was president of the Union Internationale de la Marionnette (UNIMA); he became the only puppeteer given the highest Soviet distinctions of Hero of Socialist Labour and USSR People s Artist. 8vo, hardcover, 255 pages with b/w photographs. Text in English. Presentation copy, inscribed to his colleague, the renowned American puppeteer and stop-motion animation artist Louis Bunin, with a drawing of Tyapa, Obraztsov s favorite puppet. Spine slightly shaken. Toning to end papers. Light bumping and rubbing to extremities. Some fraying to spine tail.Small hole in FFE near hand of puppet in the drawing. Inscribed by Author(s). …

First edition thus: translated by Ralph Parker, Valentina Scott and Dorian Rottenberg. Royal octavo. 255 pages. Numerous monochrome photographs, mostly of the author's puppets. Pictorial cloth. Obraztsov, having begun his career as an actor at the Moscow Art Theatre, went on to establish puppetry as a serious art form in the USSR. He gradually refined his technique until he became skilled at puppeteering with bare hands, a fact which puts your humble cataloguer in mind of Philip Roth's marvellous Mickey Sabbath.Presentation copy from the author, inscribed on the front free endpaper: ''To M. Karminski from S. Obraztsov - Moscow 10/viii 57''.Fine in very good, slightly chipped and rubbed dustwrapper.…