1903 Court Ball Album (Russky Antiquariat, Moscow, 2003)

[newfan]

Hi yes you can see the reprint in NYPL...once you see that you will start saving:)

[Annette]

Hi

Christies in London are selling an original of the 1904 book on Monday. I popped in this afternoon and they very kindly let me look through it, which was a job in itself.  The book's enormous, much bigger than I envisaged (48 cm x 35 cm and about 20 cm thick).  The binding has broken totally so each page is now loose, with a tissue covering to each photograph.  Some of the photos were smaller than those in my 2003 replica book which also surprised me.  I was surprised by the quality of the pictures, I don't know much about photography/replication processes.  I thought they would be actual photos but they were some sort of copy and they were very clear.  The internal pages were all in really good condition, considering the age.  The auction estimate is c. $11,000.

So, here's hoping for a Lottery win tomorrow!

[katmaxoz]

thanks for the information Annette. It's interesting to read your first hand impressions of the book.

[Laura Mabee]

Annette> That is very interesting! Since you had the chance to see the original, how would you say the reproduction fares in comparison?
Do you feel it fully covered what was in the original? This is something I have always been curious about myself. Thanks for the information!

[katmaxoz]

Here's Christies online listing for the book

http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?from=salesummary&intObjectID=5380327&sid=79133fa5-e09a-45ce-b65e-76b3650e71dd

Ahh...to be rich! It sounds like it desperately needs to be rebound however.

Kathy

[newfan]

Hi

Christies in London are selling an original of the 1904 book on Monday. I popped in this afternoon and they very kindly let me look through it, which was a job in itself.  The book's enormous, much bigger than I envisaged (48 cm x 35 cm and about 20 cm thick).  The binding has broken totally so each page is now loose, with a tissue covering to each photograph.  Some of the photos were smaller than those in my 2003 replica book which also surprised me.  I was surprised by the quality of the pictures, I don't know much about photography/replication processes.  I thought they would be actual photos but they were some sort of copy and they were very clear.  The internal pages were all in really good condition, considering the age.  The auction estimate is c. $11,000.

So, here's hoping for a Lottery win tomorrow!
Annette

did you see the auction catalogue?is it worth getting it?
Thanks

[rgt9w]

Newfan

If you a primarily interested in the costume ball book, then the catalogue only has the information featured in the above posted link with no additional photos. However, the catalogue should be of interest to anyone who like Imperial Presentation items as there are 3 Imperial Presentation boxes from Nicholas II for sale, as well as a number of gifts from Alexandra to her friend Baroness Ungern-Sternberg, known as "Pollie".

You can view the entire catalogue online at christies.com

[Annette]

Hi everyone

The catalogue gives no further info on the Costume Ball book other than size etc but at over 420 pages I found the catalogue a joy in itself.

How does the original compare to the reproduction? They are quite different, the 2003 edition is more glamorous and plush and also has English translations of the photos which the original does not have. As I said I was surprised that in  the original some of the photos were of different sizes.

It would be a huge task to rebind it I feel, as the book is so large. That surprised me too, why was it so big? The Christies' lady was struggling to carry it. There is absolutely no binding left at all. How the flimsy tissue covering each photo has survived intact for over 100 years I have no idea.

Unfortunately I forgot to look to see whether the group photo of everyone at the Ball was in the book but I didn't see it.

I love my repro 2003 book which is the highlight of my Russian book collection but there's no question which one I would prefer to have. One is a piece of history and the other is just a reproduction.

The book went for over £20,000 in the end and I had no lottery win so...

The beautiful Faberge snuff box also in the sale, estimated at £400,000 went for almost a million.

Kind regards

Annette

[Robert_Hall]

The original volume is a folio- it was never bound to begin with, as the catalogue mentions.

[Laura Mabee]

Thanks so much for the information Annette!
I really love my 2003 Repo, but it's great to know how it compared to the original. Much obliged. : )