Beschreibung:

SAMOKISH, Nabroski N. Iz Zhizni Gvardeiskoi Kavalerii . [Scenes from the life of the Guards Cavalry.] St. Petersburg: A. Il'in, 1889-1890.
SAMOKISH, Nabroski N. Iz Zhizni Gvardeiskoi Kavalerii . [Scenes from the life of the Guards Cavalry.] St. Petersburg: A. Il'in, 1889-1890. 2 vols in 1, 2° (vol. 1: 505 x 340mm; vol. 2: 535 x 353mm). The two parts comprising 12 chromolithographs altogether. (Light wear in the margins.) Loose, as issued, in the original chromolithographed paper portfolios (some browning and light wear), both part laid together in a contemporary purple half cloth portfolio, printed paper label on the upper side (extremities rubbed, lacking ties, lining of front board lifting). Provenance : Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy (bookplate, worn shelf-label on the spine) -- Maria Gabriella di Savoia (bookplate). FIRST EDITIONS, FROM THE LIBRARY OF VICTOR EMMANUEL III, KING OF ITALY. Samokish's excellent illustrations include: officers of the Guards Cavalry Regiment, His Majesty's Cuirassier, Cossacks from His Majesty's Regiment, and from the Tsarevich Regiment, and Dragoons, Hussars, Lancers, and others. It appears that Il'in distributed his prints in France via Paul Auguste-Godchaux of Paris: both gatherings of prints include an additional printed ticket of captions, these in French, pasted on the verso of the paper portfolio. It is likely that the cloth portfolio which gathers the two parts was produced by Auguste-Godchaux. RARE: not in Lyons and apparently not in Obol'ianinov.