Boris Godounov

Item Details

Paris, L'édition d’art H. Piazza, 1927

[Special copy with double suite].

Pushkin, A.S. Boris Godunov / illustrated by B. Zvorikin. [Pouchkine, A. Boris Godounov. In French]. Paris: L'édition d’art H. Piazza, [1927]. — Engraved title leaf, 136, [2] pp.: ill., 17 plates of illustrations, 15 plates of illustrations. 23.5 × 17.5 cm. — 955 copies printed; Copy No. 161. In publisher’s cardboard slipcase. In publisher’s illustrated cover. The second suite in publisher’s cardboard folder. Minor tears to the slipcase. For the second suite, the upper cover has detached from the block. Overall condition very good.

Copy No. 42 from a special print run of 145 (numbered from 36 to 180) on Japanese paper, with an additional black-and-white suite of illustrations.

The illustrations and decorations for this edition are among the most celebrated works of the artist Boris Vasilievich Zvorikin (1872–1942) in the field of book graphics. A distinctive feature of the book is the magnificent lace of vignettes, headpieces, and ornamental frames, with the finest filigree patterns.

The illustrations are notable for their realistic rendering of space and meticulous attention to detail. The depictions of Russian life at the turn of the 16th–17th centuries are rich and colorful, yet without slipping into gaudiness.

Among A.S. Pushkin’s many works, Boris Godunov was seldom chosen by artists for illustration. Thus, Zvorikin’s contribution to the treasury of Russian book graphics is especially significant. The illustrations were prepared by the artist in Paris in 1925.

This edition became one of Zvorikin’s masterpieces created for the publishing house Piazza, alongside Pushkin’s Tales, Moscow and the Village in Engravings and Lithographs by G.K. Lukomsky, and Poems by Alfred de Musset. But it was precisely in Boris Godunov that Zvorikin demonstrated his virtuoso mastery of ornamental art.

Reference: Seslavinsky. Rendezvous. No. 50.