A very good example of richly illustrated promotional brochure for the first full staging of Rimsky-Korsakov's 'Zolotoi Petushok' (The Golden Cockerel) by the Zimin Opera in 1909. Pushkin's original 'fairy tale in verse' is printed alongside Bilibin's stage and costume designs.

After Russia's defeat against Japan in 1905, Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) decided to create a satirical work which would expose the ineptitude of the disastrous tsarist regime. He chose to use Pushkin's 1834 poem 'The Golden Cockerel' as the basis for his libretto and it was ready to pass to the censor in 1907 after a year of work. It was immediately banned by the Palace, assumedly as the resemblance between the Tsar and the foolish King Dodon was too close. Rimsky-Korsakov's failing health meant that he never got to see the production of his work, dying two days before the 1909 premiere at the Solodovnikov Theatre.

First edition; 8vo (23.5 x 19 cm); frontispiece in blue and gilt, 24 tipped-in colour plates of Bilibin's costume and set designs over black and white illustrations, one plate loose, photographic reproductions; original brown gilt wrappers, crease to lower cover, yapp edges a little worn, a very good copy.