THE TALE OF IGOR'S CAMPAIGN, 1933, WITH TEN MAGNIFICENT FOLIO PALEKH-STYLE PLATES, VERY ORNATELY BOUND

GOLIKOV, Ivan (illustrator). Slove o polku Igoreve [The Tale of Igor's Campaign]. Moscow: Academia, 1934. Folio (11-1/2 by 17 inches), original cloth overlaid with Palekh style illustrations, illustrated endpapers. Housed in a cloth portfolio. $3200.

First edition of this magnificently illustrated version of the medieval Tale of Igor's Campaign, with 10 vibrant folio plates by Ivan Golikov done in the style of Palekh miniatures.

Slovo o polku Igoreve (often translated as The Tale of Igor's Campaign) is a medieval Russian epic poem written in old East Slavonic; a manuscript was not discovered until 1795 in the Yaroslavl monastery, and not published until 1800. The story recounts the failed campaign of Igor Svyatoslavich against the Polovtsians in the late 12th century. Borodin used it as the basis of his 1890 opera Prince Igor. This edition is illustrated by Ivan Golikov in the style of Palekh miniatures, a 20th-century Russian folk art form that is itself based on icon painting and is usually seen on small lacquered boxes and cases.The densely-textured and varnished plates and boards are accompanied by elaborately illustrated endpapers and an elaborate title page, headpieces and endpieces, often in color.

Fine condition.