[EARLY COLOR PRINTING IN RUSSIA BY A SELF-TAUGHT ANTHROPOLOGIST] Khristianskiia drevnosti i arkheologiia [Christian antiquities and archaeology], nos. 1-6 (1871) and 1 (1872). WITH: Russkiia drevnosti [Russian antiquities], nos. 1-6 (1871)

St. Petersburg: Press of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, 1871-1872. Folios (36 × 28 cm). Contemporary quarter-leather binding with gilt-embossed text to spine with thirteen issues for two years, bound in two volumes with continuous annual pagination, including the original wrappers: Vol. I: Khristianskiia drevnosti i arkheologiia [Christian antiquities and archaeology]: 64 pp., interspersed with 57 unnumbered lithographed plates, most in colour (1871); 73 pp., with 55 unnumbered lithographed plates, most in color, and one foldout map (1872). Vol. II. Russkiia drevnosti [Russian Antiquities]: 64 pp., interspersed with 59 unnumbered lithographed plates, most in color (1871). Bookplates of Maria Alexandrovna, Empress of Russia to endpaper ("Biblioteka Livadii"). Boards lightly rubbed; corners bumped; traces of paper labels to bottom of spines; spotting and staining; occasional foxing throughout; still about very good.

Thirteen issues in two volumes for 1871-72 of this unique artistic and archaeological magazine, illustrated with renderings of ancient monuments of Byzantine art and architecture, as well as iconography, architecture, decorative elements, typography, and dress from Kyiv, Moscow, Novgorod-Pskov, and Vladimir among others. Chromolithograph illustrations dominate the volumes, with an introductory text to each issue providing the basic information to the illustrations. Volume I is appended with a large fold-out plan of Pskov from 1581, sketched by the author from an icon of that period. The editor of the magazine, archaeologist and art historian Vasily Prokhorov (1819-1892), also created all the illustrations in the magazine himself.

Prokhorov studied theology at the Kherson Theological Seminary (Ukraine) before moving to the Imperial Academy of Art (St. Petersburg) to study art and architecture, a course he did not finish due to a preference for art history. A competent draftsman due to his artistic education, he focused on creating faithful reproductions of architectural monuments for the purpose of their study. He was also an avid collector of ancient art objects, and undertook numerous trips around Russia and Ukraine (in 1863, 1867, 1869, and 1871-1875) to collect objects for his own collection as well as for the collection of the Museum of Christian Antiquities at the Imperial Academy of Arts, which he directed starting in 1862. In the same year, he began the publication of the present journal, and created a chromolithograph studio in his home in order to make the brilliant color prints for his publications. The publication was suspended in 1865 due to lack of funds, but in 1871, after receiving a subsidy, it was revived in the form of two sections: "Christian Antiquities," published in 1871-1872, 1875, and 1877, and "Russian Antiquities," published in 1871 and 1876. His personal collection of objects was also later acquired by the Academy of Art. In this period, Prokhorov also founded an ethnographic Museum at the Imperial Geographic Society. His largest work, "The History of Russian Clothing" was not finished at his death, and was completed posthumously by his son.

Provenance: From the Livadia Palace Library of Empress Maria Alexandrovna (1824-1880), wife of Alexander II. With the bookplate of Maria Alexandrovna, Empress of Russia, to front pastedowns. In 1861, Emperor Alexander II presented the estate in Livadia to his wife, Empress Maria Alexandrovna. After the reconstruction, the Livadia palace could only be compared with the royal palaces in Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo. Livadia became the favourite summer residence of Empress Maria Alexandrovna and the site of her home library. Nationalized along with other major imperial collections after the Bolshevik Revolution, the Livadiia library was dispersed and these volumes were likely sold abroad in the early 1920s, as they feature no other markers of provenance.

As of March 2026, KVK, OCLC show complete runs of Khristianskiia drevnosti for 1971 and 1972 at two institutions in North America, with scattered issues at other institutions.