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VESELOVSKII, N.I., A SHCHUSEV, P. POKRYSHKIN & A. MINENKO, (artists). Mecheti Samarkanda/Les Mosquées de Samarcande. Publ. p. la Commission Imperiale Archéologique. Fasc. I: Gour-Emir. (=all publ.). St. Petersburg, 1905. IX pp. (dedic. leaf, title, text and table). Text in French and Russian. W. 18 (chromo)lithogr. plates (12 cold.). Lge-fol. In ohcl. portfol. With custom-made wooden box. (Portfol. stained, front and back cover of or. grey wrappers present, lower margin of all lvs./plates a bit waterstained).
This, the first and only volume in the series, is devoted to the Gur-e-Amir ("Tomb of the King") mosque in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Begun in 1405, it is the fabled mausoleum of the conqueror Timur or Tamerlane and his sons and grandsons. Although only the foundations of the madrasah and khanaka, the entrance portal and part of one of four minarets still remain, it is still considered one of the masterpieces of Persian architecture. The cost of producing this lavish volume was so enormous that the Imperial Architectural Commission was unable to issue a second one. The delicacy and clarity of the chromolithographs, based on paintings made on site by the three artists, make it one of the most exquisitely printed and desirable Russian books of the Silver Age.€ 2600
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