.jpg?w=1)
Details
LIFAR, Serge (1905-1986). Typescript signed (on last page, 'Serge Lifar' in Russian) and dated, Cannes, August 1938, with extensive autograph cancellations, emendations and additions, of the second part of Serge Diaghilev: His Life. His Work. His Legend. An intimate biography (London: Putnam 1940), in Russian, dedicated in pencil on p.1 to Misia Sert, stamp on p.1 of W.A. Bradley, 18 quai de Bethune, Paris, and on last page of Academie Nationale de Musique et de Danse, altogether approximately 318 pages, 4°, numbered in two parts 1-213 (lacking 21-40) and 1-124 (lacking 116, perhaps through mis-numbering), traces of earlier numbering systems, two pages entirely in manuscript (in French), 7 pages extracted from a printed edition.
LIFAR'S INTIMATE MEMOIR OF DIAGHILEV. In his preface to the London edition of his life of Diaghilev (first published in Paris in Russian), the author relates how he wrote the biography, completing it in 1933 and intending it for posthumous publication. He intended the work to be in two volumes, the first devoted to Diaghilev's professional career, the second a more personal and intimate work. In order to make a more compact work of the two parts, he edited and contracted the text, omitting extracts that might have caused concern to third parties: 'Certain extensive deletions have been necessary for a special reason. I refer to Diaghilev's perpetual quarrels and estrangements ...'. The present typescript, which the variety of numbering systems suggests may have originally formed the basis of the Paris edition, indicates the extent of Lifar's recasting of the work.
Although not clearly divided in the manuscript, the chapters in the book are titled 1. 'In the Corps-de-Ballet' (on Lifar's early career), 2. 'Creation of a Dancer' (on his rise as a star), 3. 'Alyosha' (on the activities of the Ballets Russes and its participants), 4. 'The Last Season' (up to Diaghilev's death in Venice). The appendices are not included in the typescript. (2)
LIFAR'S INTIMATE MEMOIR OF DIAGHILEV. In his preface to the London edition of his life of Diaghilev (first published in Paris in Russian), the author relates how he wrote the biography, completing it in 1933 and intending it for posthumous publication. He intended the work to be in two volumes, the first devoted to Diaghilev's professional career, the second a more personal and intimate work. In order to make a more compact work of the two parts, he edited and contracted the text, omitting extracts that might have caused concern to third parties: 'Certain extensive deletions have been necessary for a special reason. I refer to Diaghilev's perpetual quarrels and estrangements ...'. The present typescript, which the variety of numbering systems suggests may have originally formed the basis of the Paris edition, indicates the extent of Lifar's recasting of the work.
Although not clearly divided in the manuscript, the chapters in the book are titled 1. 'In the Corps-de-Ballet' (on Lifar's early career), 2. 'Creation of a Dancer' (on his rise as a star), 3. 'Alyosha' (on the activities of the Ballets Russes and its participants), 4. 'The Last Season' (up to Diaghilev's death in Venice). The appendices are not included in the typescript. (2)
Special notice
Buyers from within the EU:
VAT payable at 17.5% on just the buyer's premium (NOT the hammer price)
Buyers from outside the EU:
VAT payable at 17.5% on hammer price and buyer's premium. If a buyer, having registered under a non-EU address, decides that an item is not to be exported from the EU, then he/she should advise Christie's to this effect immediately.