Photographs for the Tsar: The Pioneering Color Photography of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii Commissioned By Tsar Nicholas II by Allshouse, Robert H. (Editor) - 1980

New York: The Dial Press, 1980. First Edition.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Dial Press First Edition, 1980. Large Hardcover Book and Dust Jacket in Fine Condition. Edited and with Introduction by Robert Allshouse. 216 pages. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall. Fine green cloth binding with a golden sheen, sewn binding tight and solid. The photographs in this extraordinary book are the work of a previously unknown pioneer in early twentieth-century color photography. Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorski was commissioned by Tsar Nicholas II in 1909 to travel throughout the Russian Empire photographing things of interest and significance. During his six years of travel, he traveled in a special railway car outfitted with a darkroom--to the Urals, the Caucasus, the Ukraine, Siberia, Finland, and as far east as Turkestan. He became one of the countless emigrees to flee Russia in 1918, a victim of the revolution. He managed to bring out nearly 2000 glass-plate negatives. This book contains 120 of his finest color photographs, including the only extant photo in color of Leo Tolstoy. Another 120 are reproduced in sepia from black-and-white prints. A landmark contribution to the history of photography. Dial Press, NY 1980. ISBN10: 0803769962, ISBN13: 9780803769960,