Bookvica

[HOMO NOVUS] Utverzhdenie teatra [i.e. The establishment of the theatre]

Kugel A.R. (Homo Novus)

Item #2676

Moscow: Teatr I Iskussvo, 1923. 208 p. 23 × 16 cm. Owner’s later binding, wrappers are preserved. Title page is slightly restored (tear), otherwise in very good condition.

First edition by Aleksandr Rafailovich Kugel’(1864—1928), one of the most prominent theatrical critics of pre-Revolutionary Russia, the founder of the Crooked Mirror theatre. Of Jewish origin, he managed to move to St-Peterburg after enrolling in the local Juridical University. He published theatre reviews and feuilletons in the Petersburg newspaper, the newspapers Rus, Den and others; he used the pseudonyms Homo Novus, N. Negorev and Kvidam. He collected some of his published articles into books, which were published separately: Without a Title (1890), Under the Shadow of the
Constitution (1907), and Theatrical Portraits (1923, one of the first Soviet publications about Nadezhda Plevitskaya). From 1897 to 1918 he was the editor-in-chief of the magazine “Theater and Art”. This
book is a compilation of Kugel articles from the magazine, including the unpublished material. Kugel was a traditionalist in his reviews, so appearance of his selected works in mid-1930s is a bit unusual
for Soviet publishing, however he was one of the favorite authors of A. Lunacharskiy.
In this book the author gives his understanding of the theatre of the day, the role of the director and the viewer, the moral crisis of drama, symbolist theatre, rhythm and the alliance of theatre and cinema. He also covers the present state of miniatures and voudeville as the performance genres.

Worldcat locates eighth paper copies at Harvard University, Yale University, Columbia University, Stanford University, Western University, University of Michigan, University of Iowa Libraries and NYPL.

Price: $450.00