Costume ball in the Winter palace. 2 volumes.  (Kostiumirovannyi bal v Zimnem dvortse ) Bi-lingual English-Russian edition. published in 2003

Volume 1: Album with photographs with biographical references / Al'bom s fotografiiami i biograficheskimi stat'iami. 464pp., 198 photographs, some in colour  Volume  2: Research, documents, materials with added notes and a coloured section of the garments worn which moved through various museums in the 1930-ies. Also added a supplement with photographs of the guests at the ball not included in the album as separate pictures. This 2nd volume is in English only 128pp.,

Edition of  4000 copies One hundred years ago the office in charge of editing the State papers started work on the
creation of a unique album : that of photogravures and photographs of the guests at the costume ball that took
place in the winter Palace on 11 and 13 February 1903. The participants all wore 17th century clothing. In the end
it was the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna herself who became the editor-in-chief of this album. Only a few copies
of the original album survive in libraries and private collections. This edition is not a reprint of that rare 1904 volume,
but it is an attempt by the publishers to show the guests of the ball as we see them today, one hundred years later.
It is the scene of a bygone era, the last such event in the history of the House of Romanov. Over one hundred
photographs have been traced and these have been provided with full biographical details, although many of
these notes finish with the lines "fate after 1917 unknown". A number of photographs not included in the 1904
edition have been added here. The main volume contains the photographs with texts in Russian and English.
The photographs, measuring  140 x 260 mm.,  are magnificent. The 2nd volume, entirely in English, contains
the newly found photographs and editorial materials, modern photographs of some of the uniforms, dresses,
clothing surviving in some museums in full colours.
Hardbacks in slip case. £335.00 or c. $ 655.00 or c. EURO 500,00 (rate of exchange on 14 March 2007)
 
 

	Some of the garments preserved in Russian museums