The Decorative Art of Leon Bakst. Appreciation by Arsene Alexandre Notes on the Ballets by Jean Cocteau. London, The Fine Art Society, 1913.
Folio (410x280 mm. binding). Mounted photographic portrait frontispiece; 77 mounted plates, 50 of which printed in colour and 4 of which folding; head- and tail-pieces after Bakst. Title and text printed in red and black.
Original half vellum gilt, with reproduction of Bakst’s signature on front board, upper edge gilt, otherwise untrimmed. Partly worn and boards with some soiling, boards slightly warped. Leaf near the end with some marginal tears.

Scarce work with stunning colour plates, some heightened in gold, after Leon Bakst's (1866-1924) original illustrations to the Russian ballet of the Diaghilev period. The plates representing the various scenes and spectacular costumes. Some of his greatest works are shown here, including Schéhérazade, Cléopatre, Daphnis and Chloé, and the notorious L'Après-Midi d'un Faun, the erotic ballet choreographed and performed by the legendary Nijinsky.
Translated from the French by Harry Melvill.