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[MAKEUP FOR AMATEUR THEATRE] Prakticheskoe rukovodstvo po grimu dlia kruzhkov teatral’noi samodeiatel’nosti [i.e. A Practical Makeup Manual for Amateur Theatrical Groups]

Novlianskii, N.

Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1940. Item #1084

48 pp., 32 ills. 18x15 cm. In original cloth folder with silver lettering and blind debossed silhouette: text brochure and separate illustration leaves inside. Folder is slightly soiled, small tear of the spine of the text brochure with minor tear of the t.p. outer edge, some foxing, otherwise very good and clean copy.
First and only edition. Rare. Folder design by M. Vil’ker.
One of three manuals on how to apply stage makeup compiled by Nikolai Novlianskii (1891-1966). He was an actor of Moscow Kamerny theater, a master of stage makeup. Apart from this handbook, he published two books in 1930 and 1945.
The first one was an album ‘Art of Makeup’ and the size of this particular edition is much smaller. However, it contains extensive text explanations and a lot of illustrations. These model makeups were, probably, more useful as far as an actor could carry some separate leaves he really needed before a certain performance.
It starts with a skull structure and face muscles. Then 26 chromolithographic portraits demonstrate how typical characters of Russian classic plays look like and at the same time illustrate the words written in the brochure.
Novliansky included roles from essential proletarian performances. Among them are ‘The Lower Depths’ by Maxim Gorky, ‘Restless Old Age’ by L. Rakhmanov, ‘Noblemen’ by N. Pogodin and others. The last play was devoted to the contemporary period - the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal (1933).

Worldcat shows the only copy located in NYPL.

Price: $650.00