My Profession (Inscribed with a Drawing)

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.…