[Theatre] Stanislavsky, Konstantin Sergeevich. (1863 - 1938). Moi Zhizn' V Iskusstve [My Life in Art], Inscribed with Letter to Morris Gest. Moscow: n.p.. [c. 1925]. First publication of Stanislavsky's classic autobiography in Russian, the deluxe edition of 6000 copies, heavily revised from the English-language edition published in the U.S. in 1924. Small quarto, 537 pp + [iv] pp. Superbly bound by Denis Gouey in blood-red oasis leather with an insert of onlaid black and bone calf representing performers in motion on stage; reproduced from the illustration on p. 114, the silhouettes of performers and stage curtains are carefully cut from black calf and laid onto bone white calf, the whole onlaid into an embossed frame on the front cover. Title stamped in 22kt gold on spine within gold-ruled raised bands. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. In a custom clamshell box, quarter red leather, gilt-stamped at spine.



This copy passionately inscribed over two full pages in Russian and signed by Stanislavsky. The inscription constitutes virtually an autograph letter to American theatrical producer Morris Gest (1875 - 1942): "To my dear friend Gest, I love you because you are able to feel the essence in art; because you know how to sense talent, how to show it to the masses, how to make them understand and grow to love beautiful things. I love you because you know how to be gentle, sincere, and loving when you love someone else. In you the Jew is combined with the Russian and the American. I love you for your talent, your heart, and your brains. I thank you for everything you have done for us and the theatre. May 12, 1927. K. Stanislavski."



Gest, born 1881 in Vilna, Lithuania as Moses Gershonovitch, died May 16, 1942 at the age of 61. He produced "The Miracle" in 1924 and "Lady Precious Stream" in 1936. Gest introduced an original Russian ballet to America (Baliev's 'Chauve-Souris') and brought Stanislavski's Moscow Art Theatre in repertory to America in 1923. Oliver Sayler provides a vivid description of Gest, helping to explain Stanislavsky's strong feelings: "The stream [of visitors] reached its peak in the Summer of 1923, when plans for 'the Miracle' in New York brought half a hundred continental and American artists for consultation, trial and testing...[including] Morris Gest himself, who, with his Russian intensity and American energy, and by aid of a retinue of newspapermen and secretaries, turned the quiet town and quieter castle into a skyscraper of activity through five crowded days." (Max Reinhardt and His Theatre, New York, 1924. p. 183).



A truly remarkable presentation copy from the Russian actor, director, and teacher whose famous physical-and-experiential-based “method” of acting influenced generations of performers, including the likes of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Robert DeNiro.