Le Théâtre japonais (Kabuki)

First edition, printed in 500 numbered copies on Arches wove paper, adorned with 48 black illustrations within the text and 32 full-page plates after drawings by Iacovleff, printed in bistre and black. A superb album, produced under the direction of Jacques de Brunhoff with the collaboration of Sergueï Grigorievitch Elisseeff (1889–1975).

In 1917, the Russian painter Aleksander Evgenevitch Iacovleff (1887–1938) spent six months on the Japanese island of Izu Ōshima, following a stay in China. He would never return to Russia, where the Soviets seized power that same year, but emigrated to France, where he would pursue the rest of his career. He became the official painter of the Croisière Noire and later the Croisière Jaune. His fascination with the Far East inspired several illustrated albums, including Dessins et peintures d’Extrême-Orient (1920), Le Théâtre chinois (1922), and finally, the present work.

Minor losses at head and foot of spine, restored tear to head of spine, small tears and stains to lower board, final endpaper slightly and partially toned with some marginal foxing; a well-preserved copy overall.