Johnson, A. E. The Russian Ballet.

Illustrations by René Bull.

London, Constable, 1913.
4to, front., 240 pp., ill.

In dark cloth with gilt lettering to spine.
In good condition, lightly rubbed and soiled, spine sunned, small tears to spine, owner mark to frontispiece verso.

First British edition. Published in the same year as the American edition.

This book, authored by Alfred Edwin Johnson, provides a comprehensive study of the Ballets Russes, written and published shortly after Diaghilev’s company presented their groundbreaking performance of ‘Le Sacre du Printemps’ in Paris. It offers an in-depth exploration of notable ballets, with chapters dedicated to 17 ballets, including ‘Pétrouchka’, ‘Thamar’, ‘Le Carnaval’, ‘Cléopâtre’, ‘Les Sylphides’, ‘Schéhérazade’, ‘Le Spectre de la Rose’, ‘Le Sacre du Printemps’, and ‘Prélude à l’Après-Midi d’un Faune’, among others. The book concludes with a chapter devoted to Anna Pavlova.
The text is enriched with illustrations by renowned British illustrator and photographer René Bull (1872–1942).