With fine provenance . An exceptionally fresh example of this major luxury work on Bakst's art.

Cecil Hopkinson (1898-1977) was a musical bibliographer and his Berlioz bibliography of 1951 remains the standard work of reference in this field. Rather unusually he was also the foremost authority on collecting golf books during the first half of the 20th century and authored a sought-after bibliography on the subject. His bookplate was illustrated by the Ballets Russes collaborator Alexander Benois and features his characters and stage designs for the ballet Petrushka.

'Born in Russia in 1866, Léon Bakst belonged to that young generation of European artists who rebelled against 19th century stage realism, which had become pedantic and literal, without imagination or theatricality. There were no specialist trained theatre designers, so painters like Léon Bakst turned their painting skills to theatre design. Bakst's fame lay in the ballets he designed for the Diaghilev Ballets Russes, and huge pageant spectaculars for dancer and patron, Ida Rubinstein. He died in 1924 but after nearly 100 years his magic is as potent as ever, rediscovered by every generation. His influence was such that people who have never heard his name now see the world in a different way' (Victoria & Albert Museum).

First edition; folio (41.3 x 28.5 cm); photographic portrait frontispiece & 77 plates tipped-in (including 50 colour); very occasional marginal spotting; original publisher's half vellum over marbled boards, a pristine copy.