[PUSHKIN, Alexander] PUSCHKIN, Alexandre

A Dama de Espadas [The Queen of Spades]

[Rio de Janeiro], Confraria Bibliófila Brasileira 'Cattleya Alba', [1944] (first thus).

Octavo, [102] French-fold pages printed on silk (top and bottom edges pinked), with 52 full-page hand-coloured illustrations by Martha Pawlowna Schidrowitz.

Original padded silk boards lettered on the spine and front cover (along with a large hand-coloured illustration); scattered foxing throughout; covers lightly soiled and rubbed; minimal signs of use and age; an excellent copy in the original padded silk-covered box (soiled and a little worn, with the joint to the lid slightly loose).

Number 48 of only 200 copies of this deluxe privately printed edition printed on undyed silk, signed by the illustrator Martha Pawlowna Schidrowitz and the translator Álvaro Moreyra. The 52 hand-coloured illustrations, based on the 52 cards in a deck, feature characters from the book and Russian landmarks.

This is the second publication by the Confraria dos Bibliófilos Brasileiros or Confraria Bibliófila Brasileira under the 'Cattleya Alba' imprint, directed by Léo Jerônimo Schidrowitz. Moreyra's translation into Portuguese is based on the French translation of Prosper Mérimée.

A short bibliographical note in the second edition of 1945 (printed on paper) states: 'A edição original foi realizada nos meses de Setembro a Dezembro de MCMXLIV. Compunha-se de 200 exemplares numerados para os sócios de Confraria dos Bibliófilos Brasileiros, e não se destinou à venda. Empregou-se para essa edição, pela primeira vez no Brasil, seda em lugar de papel. A ilustradora coloriu à mão os 52 desenhos que acompanham o texto'. [The original edition was completed in the months of September and December 1944. It comprised 200 numbered copies for members of the Confraria dos Bibliófilos Brasileiros, and was not intended for sale. In this edition, for the first time in Brazil, silk was used instead of paper. The illustrator hand coloured the 52 illustrations that accompany the text].

Item #125215

Price (AUD): $2,500.00
other currencies