The Classic Ballet Basic Technique and Terminology:  Historical development by Lincoln Kirstein, descriptive text by Muriel Stuart, Illustrations by Carlus Dyer, and preface by George Balanchine, is a 243-page hardcover published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1952.  The dust jacket has substantial chipping and shelf wear.  The book has shelf wear along the cover edges.  Inside, the cover has shelf wear and light tanning and foxing but otherwise is clean and unmarked.  The condition is good to fair. 

Book Summary

This handsome book is a basic visual dictionary of ballet--of the positions, steps, movements, and combinations that together make up its vocabulary.

The Classic Ballet opens with a condensed history of the evolution of ballet by Lincoln Kirstein, Director of the School of American Ballet.  There are 156 pages of accurate line drawings by Carlus Dyer, remarkably illustrating not only the stance and posture for basic ballet steps, but also their preparation, practice, direction, significance, and motion.  The explanatory introductions and texts by Muriel Stuart, Instructor at the School of American Ballet, combine with the pictures to produce a unique and timeless look, the first comprehensive and satisfying answer to the question:  Where can I find the meaning, the actual working meaning, of the terminology and technique of ballet?