Académie des Beaux-Arts. Années 1972 et 1973. 

Paris, Institut de France, [1977].
8vo, 272, [4] pp., 4 l.ill. 

In original pictorial wrappers. Signed to half-title. With Lifar’s black ink marks to p. 96-97, 99 and 100 ('Ma corrections / Serge Lifar'). Partly unopened copy. 
Near very good condition, very light wear to corners of wrappers, lightly sun-tanned edges, Zilberstein's stamp inside rear wrapper. 

Signed and inscribed with a drawing by the Ukrainian-born dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar (1905-1986): 'Parizh / 1977 (janvier) / Moskva / Ile Samoilovichu / Zilbersteinu / mudromu nasledniku / "Mir iskusstva" / i drugu / Sergei Lifar / (Diaghilew - p 93)'. [Paris 1977 (January) Moscow. To Ilya Samoilovich Zilberstein, a wise successor of "World of Art" and a friend. Sergei Lifar. (Diaghilev. - p. 93)]. 

This book comprises speeches delivered during the annual public sessions of 1972 and 1973 at the Académie des Beaux-Arts. Among them is Serge Lifar's presentation titled 'The Centenary of Sergei Diaghilev (1872-1929), Creator of the Russian Ballets', which was given during the meeting on April 12, 1972.
Ukrainian-born French ballet dancer and choreographer Lifar is widely regarded as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century and one of the world's most outstanding choreographers. As one of the principal members of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and his lover, Lifar spearheaded a technical revival at the Paris Opera Ballet.
Lifar signed this book to Ilya Zilberstein (1905-1988), a distinguished literary and art critic, public figure, editor of the multi-volume publication 'Literaturnye Pamiatniki' (Literary Heritage), and one of the most significant Soviet collectors. Zilberstein played a pivotal role in establishing the Museum of Private Collections, a department of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, with its collection based on his own. It is noteworthy that one of the most substantial and expansive segments of his collection comprised works by artists from the 'Mir Iskusstva' (World of Art) movement which was mentioned in Lifar's inscription. Zilberstein is also credited for his involvement in the creation of the Central State Archive of Literature and Art. He actively facilitated the repatriation of numerous historical documents related to the Russian cultural heritage from abroad and private collections to the state funds and archives of the USSR.
Zilberstein had been in correspondence with Lifar since the late 1950s and later met him in person several times in Moscow and Paris. Lifar shared Zilberstein's passion for collecting (Zilberstein referred to Lifar's collection as 'the best foreign collection of relics of Russian culture') and was one of the first to respond to Zilberstein's call for the return of Russian relics to their homeland. In 1982, a two-volume book titled 'Sergei Diaghilev and Russian Art' was published in Moscow, and Zilberstein was one of its compilers.