LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2006 October Grand Format Autographs #629  / 

25784

Memoires Sur Les Lepidopteres - N.M. Romanov

Currency:USD Category:Books / Antiquarian & Collectible Start Price:625.00 USD Estimated At:2,500.00 - 3,500.00 USD
Memoires Sur Les Lepidopteres - N.M. Romanov
<B>Seven Volumes of the Nine Volume Set: <I>Memoires Sur Les Lepidopteres</B></I> by Nikolay Michailovich Romanov.</B></I> (St. Petersburg: M.M. Stassulewitch, 1885), volumes 3 and 5 missing, fold out map Volume 6 intact, 84 illustrations, some in full color, original morocco and cloth, sizes ranging from 7" x 10" to 7" x 9.5". The compiler of this exhaustive reference work was the grandson of Tsar Nicholas; they were originally produced in nine volumes between the years 1884 and 1901. Nikolay was killed in St. Petersburg in 1919 along with the rest of the Imperial Romanov family. After his murder, he and some of the lesser-known family members underwent something of a <I>damnatio memoriae</B></I> and they then vanished into obscurity. According to experts the drawings were done from natural butterflies, because he felt that the exactness and detailed coloring of the specimens were very important for specialists. Volume 6 features a topographical map of Russia that was done by G. Groum Grgimailo. The circulation of these volumes was very small, and not many have filtered out of the Soviet Union in the years since the fall of Communism; it appears they were meant for close friends and collectors, so finding a set like this, which is almost complete is quite a rare find indeed. Each volume was produced differently, making the uniformity of the set quite lacking: Volume 1 was produced in German and French and contains 10 illustrations; Volume 2 was produced in German and French and contains 16 illustrations; Volume 4 was produced in French and contains 21 illustrations; Volume 6 was produced in French and German and contains 16 illustrations; Volume 7 was produced in French and contains 23 illustrations; Volume 8 was produced in French and contains 34 illustrations; Volume 9 was produced in French and German and contains 14 illustrations. This exhaustive reference and bibliography is a wonderful combination of academic excellence and the obscure decadence of the Romanov dynasty. The seven volumes are in very good condition overall: most have rubbed leather and loose spines; corners and boards rounded; Volume 6 full intact but slightly brittle.
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