[CHALIAPIN MARINA]: (1912-2009) Russian ballerina & actress, daughter of Feodor Chaliapin and wife of Luigi Freddi ...

[CHALIAPIN MARINA]: (1912-2009) Russian ballerina & actress, daughter of Feodor Chaliapin and wife of Luigi Freddi, the Italian Minister of Culture. Marina Chaliapin was crowned Miss. Russia in 1931. The personal autograph album of Marina Chaliapin, the leather bound 4to album containing 48 signatures (most with personal inscriptions to Chaliapin) by a variety of famous individuals including musicians, singers, actors, artists etc., including (in order of appearance) Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938, Russian opera singer; signed Daddy and with a lengthy inscription in Cyrillic, in part, 'To my dear daughter Marinka - Words, words…where to find them…. No! I have to sum up my life, multiply my love, fuse my feelings, to share all this with you….. Then, I will maybe get to what I want to say…', Kitzbuhel, 1st August 1934), Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962, Austrian-born American violinist and composer; dated at Salzburg, 22nd August 1935), Charles B. Cochran (1872-1951, English theatrical manager and impresario; 'To the daughter of my greatest hero, Charles B Cochran', 1935), Gianna Pederzini (1900-1988, Italian mezzo-soprano; April 1936), Louis Jouvet (1887-1951, French actor & theatre director), Max Dearly (1874-1943, French actor; Salzburg, July 1936), Lotte Lehmann (1888-1976, German soprano; Salzburg, 1936), Bronislaw Huberman (1882-1947, Polish violinist; August 1936), Hannes Schneider (1890-1955, Austrian ski instructor), Joseph Paul-Boncour (1873-1972, French Prime Minister 1932-33), Luigi Freddi (1895-1977, Italian journalist and politician, husband of Marina Chaliapin; Venice, August 1937), Ugo Ojetti (1871-1946, Italian writer, journalist & art critic; Venice, August 1937), Vittorio Cini (1885-1977, Italian entrepreneur and politician), Italo Balbo (1896-1940, Italian fascist politician, Marshal of the Air Force 1929-33 and Governor-General of Italian Libya 1934-40), Rouben Mamoulian (1897-1987, Russian-born American film director; a fine example in Cyrillic, 1937), Luis Trenker (1892-1990, Austro-Hungarian film producer, director & actor; November 1938), Trilussa (1871-1950, Italian poet, writer & journalist; 1942), Edward VIII (1894-1972, King of the United Kingdom January - December 1936. Later Duke of Windsor; A.N.S., Edward P, as Prince of Wales, in pencil, on a small oblong 12mo card, n.p., n.d., in full, 'With many thanks for a most charming evening from Edward P', neatly laid down to the page), Massimo Bontempelli (1878-1960, Italian poet, playwright, novelist & composer; A.M.Q.S., being two bars of music which he identifies as being from Monescia), Eleonora Duse (1858-1924, Italian actress; A.N., unsigned, on her personal printed visiting card, in Italian, neatly laid down to the page), Issay Dobrowen (1891-1953, Russian-Norwegian pianist, composer & conductor; Rome, 1946), Alexander Borovsky (1889-1968, Russian-American pianist; 1946), Tullio Serafin (1878-1968, Italian conductor; A.M.Q.S., being several bars of music, with words beneath, marked Proprio cosi ('Just like that') in his hand and with a further sentiment in his hand, Musica - ragione di vita ('Music - reason for life'), Rome, 31st October 1947), Gino Cervi (1901-1974, Italian actor famous for his performances as 'Peppone' in the Don Camillo movies of the 1950s and 1960s, and later as the detective Maigret), Akim Tamiroff (1899-1972, Russian-born American actor), Paul Robeson (1898-1976, American singer and actor; ink signature on a small piece a little crudely cut from a printed programme for Black Boy, neatly laid down), Tullio Carminati (1894-1971, Italian actor), Ronald Colman (1891-1958, English actor, Academy Award winner), Umberto Spadaro (1904-1981, Italian actor), Renato Rascel (1912-1991, Italian actor & singer), David Lichine (1910-1972, Russian-American ballet dancer and choreographer; 1953), Jean Cocteau (1889-1963, French poet, playwright, novelist, designer & artist), Jose Greco (1918-2000, Italian-born American flamenco dancer; the page also signed by his sister Norina Greco, and Nila Amparo), Gina Cigna (1900-2001, French-Italian soprano), Oswald Mosley (1896-1980, British politician, leader of the British Union of Fascists), Witold Malcuzynski (1914-1977, Polish pianist; A.M.Q.S., being several bars from an unidentified work, November 1961), Earl Warren (1891-1974, American jurist and politician who led the Warren Commission that investigated the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy), Roloff Beny (1924-1984, Canadian photographer; an original black ink drawing of several long, elegant leaves, inscribed 'For Marina, Remembering ''Death is a name for Beauty not in use'', with admiration and affection, Roloff Beny', April 1981) etc. The vast majority of the signatures are on individual leaves, and most are neatly annotated to the lower corners in ink by Marina Chaliapin. Her Ex-Libris plate appears to the front free endpaper and her initials ('M.F.C.') are stamped to the upper right corner of the front cover. An interesting collection of signatures with fine provenance. Some very light, extremely minor age wear and slight age toning at the edges of the pages, the covers slightly worn and stained. VG