Search Results: Books:Slavic Literature:Architecture from ZH BOOKS

Leningrad: Avrora, 1981. First edition; 9 x 13; pp. [4], 5-138, [6]; white cloth over boards; pictorial DJ and card stock slipcase; very minor wear, near fine. Jacket with a few small nicks to edges, very good or better; slipcase shows some wear along edges. Illustrated with full-page color plates (including fold-out) from photographs. The Grand Kremlin Palace was build over the span of 12 years (1837-49) on Borovitsky Hill in Moscow - to serve as the tsar’s city residence. Spectacularly opulent, it was designed by the esteemed architect Konstantin Thon as a tribute to the greatness of the Russian autocracy. During the Soviet Era the palace was used as a meeting place for the sessions of the Supreme Council of USSR. The book describes the history and architecture of the Kremlin Palace and it also allows a glimpse into some of the most spectacular of its collections.

Leningrad: Stroiizdat, 1989. First edition; folio 10 x 13 ½; pp. [9], 8-560; blue cloth over boards; silver title; pictorial DJ; very minor wear (small discolored spot to fore-edge, else fine); jacket with a few small nicks and chips to edges – very good or better. Illustrated with full-page color plates including large fold-out, and b & w in-line drawings and illustrations. Captions in Russian and English. A wonderful work on the history of the Hermitage and its architecture. Once home of the tsars and currently one of the oldest museums in existence, founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great, the Hermitage houses the largest collection of paintings in the world. In 1941, when Hitler ordered the complete annihilation of Saint Petersburg, hundreds of museum employees as well as concerned citizens poured into the Hermitage, packed and crated the priceless collections, and evacuated them to Sverdlovsk (present day Yekaterinburg) thus saving more than a million… Read More

Leningrad: Iskusstvo, 1979. First edition; 8 x 10 ½; pp. [5], 6-136, [2]; original glossy pictorial boards; rubbing to lower right corner and a chip to back cover at spine, else very minor wear; illustrated with full-page color plates, in-line photographs, and drawings; summaries and legends in Russian, English, French, and German; very good or better.The Lomonosov estate, also known as Oranienbaum - is the oldest of the imperial palaces around Saint Petersburg. It was also the only one of the royal residences to escape Nazi capture during the Great Patriotic War. Possibly the most opulent of the Russian palaces, it was established by Peter the Great’s closest adviser Prince Menshikov. Used as a hospice in the 1700s after Menshikov’s death, the estate was given as a gift to Peter III. By the end of the 18th and throughout the 19th centuries the complex was alternately used as a Naval Cadet College, a royal summer residence, and a museum. Though… Read More

S.-Peterburg (St. Petersburg): TipografiiaGlavnago Upravleniia Udelov, 1906. Hardcover. First edition; 15 3/4 x 11 1/2; pp. [6], 1-36, [56]; bound in morocco-backed, black, pebbled cloth; 5 raised bands and gilt title to spine; illustrated with 26 of 27 plates (it appears plate No. IX has never been properly bound), including 12 plates of plans and diagrams (some hand-colored), 13 halftones from photographs, and a tipped-in color plate of a fresco; also included 13 in-text drawings; rubbed spots to corners; a few finger smudges to margins (mostly to first few leaves); very faint erasure marks to upper part of title page; a bit of wear to tips of spine; very good condition.A remarkable and quite scarce, pre-Revolutionary record of the major restoration of the famous 12-century church in Novgorod, compiled and written by renowned Russian architect, educator, religious figure, and member of the Imperial Archaeological Commission Pyotr Petrovich Pokryshkin (1870 - 1922). The Spaso-Nereditskaia Church,… Read More

St. Petersburg: Dmitrii Bulanin, 2001. First edition; 6 1/2 x 9 1/2; pp. [2], 3-42, [6]; original pictorial boards; very minor wear, fine condition. Profusely illustrated.Based on archives and historical documents, the book follows the creation and development of the landscape of Peterhof complex of palaces and gardens. Located on the Gulf of Finland, the gardens and the fountains of this royal residence are often referred to as the "Russian Versailles". Along with chapters on the royal inhabitants through the ages - also included are many photographs, schematics, and plans of what the introduction calls "a structure unparalleled anywhere else in the world."

Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1988. First edition; 8 1/2 x 10 1/2; pp. [21], 22-133, [3]; original pictorial cloth over boards; silver title; very minor wear, fine condition. Profusely illustrated with full-page color plates, in-line illustrations, and schematics.A stunningly illustrated history of the Tsaritsyno estate in Moscow. The palace and gardens were built in the 16th century for Tsarina Irina and at the time it was called Bogorodskoye. Later, it was passed on to Catherine the Great who commissioned an architect, Vasily Bazhenov, to expand and re-design the residence. Becoming increasingly paranoid and suspicious of the architect's involvement with the Freemasons she ordered the newly built central part of the residence to be brought down. After Catherine's death the construction was halted and the complex was left to the elements. In 1984 a museum was established on the site and efforts have been made at restoring the glory of the estate.

St. Petersburg: Tipografia "Pravda", 1998. First edition; 5 3/4 x 8 1/2; pp. [4], 3-339, [3]; original glossy pictorial boards; very minor wear, fine condition. Profusely illustrated from photographs.A beautiful work on 'Tsarskoe Selo' (literally translated "The Royal Village") which was the former country residence of the Russian imperial family. Originally belonging to a Swedish nobleman, it was given to Catherine I by Peter the Great at the beginning of the 18th century. The book contains a short history of its creating, a list of the ruling monarchs during its development, descriptions of its architectural marvels, etc.