BENOIS (Alexandre). Azbouka v kartinakh. [Alphabet in pictures]. Izdanie Ekspeditsii Zagotovleniya Gosudarstvennykh Boumag. [Factory for the supply of state papers]. [St. Petersburg. 1904]. Large in-4 (32,5 x 26 cm). (36) pp. : beige cloth spine, illustrated boards, lithographed in colors and enhanced with gold and silver, fir tree and cherubs on a pink cloud at the head, many children and characters accompanied by books. (A. Benois). Historical alphabet in the illustration of the book for children, designed by one of the most famous artists in Russia. Alexander Benois (1870-1960), painter and creator of costumes, theater and ballet sets, founding member of the "World of Art" studied in St. Petersburg, traveled to Germany and Paris, exhibited from 1891 and was artistic director of the Moscow Art Theater. He emigrated permanently to Paris in 1926, devoting himself mainly to the stage. This alphabet is one of his most ambitious achievements as an illustrator, he took care of all the stages and details of its conception. Covers, title page and thirty-four plates of alphabet entirely chromolithographed with, for some, gold and silver highlights. A work combining luxury and facetiousness, it depicts the children of the aristocracy for whom this rare volume is intended, with a more limited edition, sold for three rubles, i.e. four times more expensive than the tales illustrated by Bilibine for the same publisher. Alexander Benois also shows his own collection of dolls and toys and makes a point of showing other children's books of the time on the cover: Hoffmann's Struwwelpeter, Busch's Max und Moritz, Bilibine's tales and Kreidolf's Fitzebutze. The borders of the letter N (Napadenie), for the Attack of the Indians, are decorated with books by Fenimore Cooper and Mayne-Reid. A masterpiece of the Golden Age, even more desirable in this fine condition. Minor restorations on the corners and outer edge of the first board, inner hinges consolidated.