russian emperors and the imperial public...

2016년도 장서각 자료 국제공동연구 국제학술회의

동서양 기록문화의과거와 현재The Documentary Cultures of East and West, Past and Present

Russian Emperors and the Imperial Public Library

: Towards the History of the Manuscript Collections (1795~1917)

Olga Vasileva (National Library of Russia)

Russian Emperors and the Imperial Public Library 383

Russian Emperors and the Imperial Public Library: Towards the history of the manuscript collections (1795–1917)

Olga V. Vasileva (National Library of Russia)

1. Prehistory

The first state library in Saint Petersburg, the capital of Russian Empire since

1703, was organized by the order of the first Russian Emperor Peter I (1682-1725)

in 1714. After 1724 it became a part on the Academy of sciences, established by him.

After the death of the Emperor his private collection was included into the academic

library. The two collections were universal, they consisted of Russian and foreign

printed books, maps, plans, etc, in both non-religious scientific literature prevailed.

Besides, in the private library of Peter I there were 250 manuscripts mostly in

Russian and Slavonic languages.

The only one passionate bibliophile among Peter’s successors was Catherine II, a

German princess who became the wife of Peter III (1761-1762) and ruled

independently as the Russian Empress since 1762 till 1796. This woman, to who’s

name the title “the Great” was added, can be described as a “self made” person of

the Age of the Enlightenment. Her reforms concerned many, if not all, aspects of the

state system and social life, however, she paid special attention to the cultural

development and education. It was Catherine who organized the Academy of Arts

and the Hermitage Museum, known in the whole world today as the State Hermitage;

she also assembled her private library, which much later will be transferred to the

Imperial Public library, founded by her in 17951).

1) On the history of the Library see: Императорская Публичная библиотека за сто лет: 1814–1914. СПб., 1914 (Imperial Public Library during 100 years: 1814–1914); The National Library of Russia. 1795-1995. St-Petersburg., 1995; Российская национальная библиотека: к 200-летию со дня открытия. СПб., 2014 (National Library of Russia;

384 The Documentary Cultures of East and West, Past and Present

2. In the beginning (1795–1814)The foundation of the Imperial Public Library (later State Public Library and

presently the National Library of Russia) as a state book repository open for the

public was closely connected with an important military political event, namely, the

suppression in 1794 of the Polish uprising of Tadeusz Kostuszko by the Russian army.

Catherine II ordered the army commander Generalissimo Alexander V. Suvorov to

bring from Warsaw the library assembled by two famous Polish clerics and scholars,

brothers Józef Andrzej (1695-1758) and Andrzej Stanisław (1702-1774) Załuski.

Along with about 240,000 printed books their library contained almost 11,000

manuscripts, mostly in European languages2). Later, in 1922-1935, all the printed

books from this collection, as well as the manuscripts of Polish origin and

provenance were returned to Poland, where most of them perished during the

Second World War. Only around 300 items that were left in the National Library of

Russia survived, among them there are 6 Old Russian and Slavonic, as well as 5

Oriental handwritten books.

Examples:Sacramentarium Georgianum (catholic liturgical work in Latin) copied with

golden ink in the 2nd half of the 9th century in France (Caroling period) is

remarkably decorated.

The Agony passion in Old Belorussian, the earliest Slavonic manuscript of the

collection, belongs to the 15th century.

The first official document in the history of the Library is the architectural design

of its first building drawn by the architect Egor Sokolov and approved by Catherine

II on May, 27, 1795. This building was erected at the junction of Nevsky Prospect

towards two hundred years from the opening day); http://www.nlr.ru/eng/nlr/history/Here and after just very few references in Russian are given.

2) See: Bleskina O., Elagina N. (eds). The inventory of manuscripts from the Załuski library in the Imperial Public library. Warsaw, 2013.


and Sadovaya Street several years later, already after the Empress’s death;

meanwhile the Zaluski library collection was stored in another place.

“Dépôt of manuscripts”, i.e. the manuscript department of the Imperial Public

Library, was established on March 14, 1805, by Alexander I (1801-1825), the

grandson of Catherine II. This event was inspired by the acquisition of the collection

assembled by Peter P. Dubrovsky (1754-1816)3), a former official at the Russian

embassy in France. He brought from Europe about 700 Western, 150 Oriental,

50 Old Russian and 20 Greek codices, as well as 15.000 archival documents and

autographs of many famous people. Formally the collection was “gifted” to

Alexander I, but the donation deed implied certain financial conditions.

Examples: Prayer book of Maria Stuart, queen of Scotland, is one of the most famous

medieval manuscripts of the Dubrovski collection. Carried out in 1430s it was

gifted to Maria Stuart by her uncle Francis, Duke of Guise, and according to the

legend she mounted the scaffold in 1587 holding this book in her hands. Some

pages bear the inscriptions written by Maria.

By another legend one of the Russian manuscript from the collection, Mineya of

the 11th century, had belonged to the daughter of the Russian Prince Yaroslav

the Wise, Anna Yaroslavna (1032 or 1036-between 1075 and 1089), who was the

queen of France, wife of Henry I and mother of Philipp I.

Quran fragment was copied ca. 1400 in North Africa with white-silver ink on

paper covered with dark brownish-reddish color, and decorated with golden

3) See: «Жемчужина в короне»: Отдел рукописей Российской национальной библиотеки: 1805-2005. СПб., 2005 (“Pearl in a Crown”: Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia: 1805-2015); Елагина Н. А. Петр Дубровский (1754-1816) и его коллекция. СПб., 2004 (Elagina N.A. Peter Dubrovsky (1754-1816) and his collection); Voronova T., Sterligov A. Western European illuminated manuscripts of the 8th to the 10th centuries in the National Library of Russia, St Petersburg: France, Spain, England, Italy, The Netherlands. Bournemouth – St Petersburg, 1996; Vasilyeva O.V. Oriental manuscripts in the National Library of Russia. In: Manuscripta Orientalia. St.-Petersburg, Helsinki, 1996. Vol. 2, No. 2, June. pp.19-35.


ornamental patterns. The fragment belonged to the copy which is kept now in the

National Library of France.

Thus, two collection of European origin have formed the basis of the Russian

national book repository. At the same period some unique Old Russian codices were

donated by private collectors and by Alexander I, who in the same year 1805 handed

over the Ostromir Gospel, the earliest Russian manuscript dated 1056-574).

The Gospel was commissioned by Ostromir, the governor of Novgorod, who was

a close confidant of Prince Iziaslav of Kiev, the son of Yaroslav the Wise. The

copyist, Deacon Grigory, worked on it from 21 October 1056 to 12 May 1057.

An inscription on the first page Evangelie sofeiskoe aprakos states that Ostromir

donated the manuscript to St. Sophia's Cathedral in Novgorod. The subsequent

fate of the work can be traced in documents only from the beginning of the

eighteenth century. The Ostromir Gospel is mentioned in the inventory of the

property belonging to one of the churches in the Moscow Kremlin, compiled in

1701. In 1720 Peter the Great signed a decree that provided for the gathering of

information about ancient documents and manuscript books in Russian churches

and monasteries. In that same year the Ostromir Gospel was sent from Moscow to

St. Petersburg. Then we again lose track of the book for 85 years, until 1805,

when it was found among the effects of Catherine II. The book is decorated with

two large size miniatures and numerous initials. It was meticulously studied and

twice published in facsimile: in 1883 and in 1988.

Another important manuscript transferred by Alexander I to the Library is the

Lavrenty’s chronicle of 1377; he received this book from the Russian statesman and

historian Alexey I. Musin-Pushkin5).

4) See: http://www.nlr.ru/eng/exib/Gospel/ostr/index.html5) See: http://expositions.nlr.ru/LaurentianCodex/manuscript1.html


3. After the official opening (1814–1850)On January 14, 1814, the ceremony of the official opening of the Public Library

took place. On this occasion several important donations were made, for example,

Alexander I handed over the illustrated French manuscript of 1401 – the works of

Valery Maxim, which had been bought in Paris.

At the same period the first private collection of Russian manuscripts was

accepted in deposit. It belonged to mining engineer Peter K. Frolov, director of the

factories in Barnaul (Altay region), and included beside 160 Old Russian codices 65

Oriental manuscripts and some other materials. In 1817 the Director of the Library

Alexey N. Olenin, who occupied simultaneously the positions of the state secretary

and of the head of the Academy of Arts, made arrangements for this collection to be

purchased by Alexander I.

Examples: Gospel of the 13th century with the miniature of St. Ioann (St. John the Divine)

Collection of works by Uzbek poet Alishir Navai, copied in the late 15th-eally 16th

century, illustrated by miniatures near Tashkent. Frolov drew his arms–ex-libris

on this and several other valuable manuscripts.

We must mention here the album of drawings, which was presented to Alexander

I by the head of the Russian orthodox mission in China, the famous Russian

sinologist archimandrite Iakinf (Bichurin), and entered the Library in 1824. The

album contains Chinese color drawings, depicting representatives of different social

and professional groups and nationalities. Among them there are four miniatures of

Korean inhabitants. (In brackets: no other Korean materials are housed in the

Department.)

In 1828-1830 the military trophies captured during the Russo-Iranian and

Russo-Turkish wars, were transferred to the Imperial Public library by the order of

Alexander’s son, Emperor Nicolas I (1825-1855), all in all around 400 Islamic


manuscripts.

In 1828 collection of lavishly decorated Persian manuscripts was brought from

Ardabil6). These manuscripts originate from the waqf (charitable endowment) of

Sheikh Safi al-Din’s Shrine and include 166 richly illuminated and illustrated

literary and historical works. They were selected with the assistance of the shrine’s

mufti and paid for with gold. Remarkably, the manuscripts once belonged to the

Persian Shah Abbas I (ruled 1588-1629) and represent a part of his royal library.

Examples:Shah-nama by Firdawsi with 50 miniatures of Shirazian style is the fifth

illustrated copy in the world; dated 1333.

The Ball and the Mallet (Guy va Chawgan) by Mahmud Arifi was copied by the

young Persian Shah Tahmasp I in 1524, when he was only 12 years old;

illustrated with miniatures of Tabriz stile.

Soon after 1829 the Imperial library was enriched with 148 manuscripts from

Akhaltsikhe (now in Georgia), with 42 manuscripts from Erzrum and 66 manuscripts

from Adrianople/Edirne (Turkey).

In 1829, 18 illuminated manuscripts were presented to Nicholas I by the Persian

prince Khusraw Mirza, the grandson of Fath Ali Shah, who was sent to

St. Petersburg as the head of the “apologetic embassy” after the murder of

Alexander S. Griboedov, Russian ambassador to Teheran.

Examples:Divan (collection of poetry) by Uzbek poet Alishir Nawai, copied in 1565-66 in

Mashhad and decorated a century later, the earliest surviving manuscript of the

6) See: Vasilyeva O.V. From the Ardabil Shrine to the National Library of Russia. In: Gifts of the Sultan: The arts of giving at the Islamic courts . Ed. by L. Komaroff. Los Angeles County Museum of Art; New Haven-London; Yale Univ. press, 2011. pp.200-201; Vasilyeva O.V. A String of Pearls: Iranian fine books from the 14th to the 17th century in National Library of Russia collections. St-Petersburg, 2009.


author’s life-time.

Shah-nama by Firdawsi, copied in 1642-1651, illustrated with 192 miniatures of

Isfahan style.

When the war against the Ottoman Empire ended, the Christian community of

Gümüsh-hane village in Asia Minor presented Nicolas I with a precious eleventh

century Gospel in Greek language, written on purple parchment.

One more trophy is to be mentioned. In 1830 the “November revolt” in Poland

was suppressed by the Russian troops. After it the property of the main insurgents

and some institutions was taken to the state treasury, while their book collections

were divided between state libraries. The Imperial library received, according the

archival documents, about 240 manuscripts7) along with several collections. They

were later returned to Poland, with one exception: the collection of prince

Czartoryzki (more than one hundred manuscripts) was “dispersed” between the

library funds and cannot be reconstructed.

In 1830 the government paid for the 1302 Russian codices, which belonged to count

Fiodor A. Tolstoy. Six years later, in 1836, also by the order of Nicolas I they bought

the huge library and the art collections of the General count Peter Suchtelen, Dutch by

origin, Russian ambassador in Sweden8). Last acquisition was divided between several

institutions: manuscripts entered the Public Library (268 West-European codices,

around 40,000 autographs and some Oriental materials), Asiatic Museum, Oriental

institute of the Ministry of foreign affairs, University of Kazan.

7) The number can be higher, as not all the manuscripts easily may be recognized in brief archival lists of printed books. See: Зверева И.С. Поступления в Императорскую Публичную библиотеку секвестрованных частных собраний в 1830-х–1840-х годах: обзор архивных документов In: Kultura historia książka: Zbiόr studiόw; Red. A. Dymmel, B. Pejakowa. Lublin, 2012. S. pp.325-348.

8) See articles in: Сухтеленовские чтения: Материалы международной научной конференции, посвященной 250-летию со дня рождения графа П. К. Сухтелена. СПб, 2002. (Suchtelen reading: Proceedings of International scientific conference, dedicated to 250-anneversary of Count P.K. Suchtelen); Vasilyeva O.V. Åkerblad’s collection in Suchtelen’s Orientalia: from Sweden to Russia. In: Studia orientalia. Helsinki, 2013. Vol. 114: Travelling through time: Essays in honor of Kaj Öhrnberg. pp. 493-510.


Example:Petrarch. Remedies against both kinds of Fortune. Copied in 1388 in Milan (Italy)

By the middle of the 19th century West-European handwritten materials (ca.

21,500 codices and 55,000 documents) prevailed over both Russian and Oriental

manuscripts. In this period the large collections entered the Library “by the highest

order”: first, as trophies, second, paid by the government, and, third, handed over

from the court. Beside direct support there were such indirect results of the imperial

policy as collections gathered by missioners and diplomats who lived for a long time

in foreign countries. (For example, archimandrite Peter (P. Kamensky), the head of

the 10th Russian Orthodox mission in China, in 1822 sent to the Imperial library

block-prints, which he could buy with the money given for this purpose by the

Library’s Director Alexey N. Olenin. Later, in 1831, the archimandrite also

presented about 50 block-prints in Chinese, Manchu and Mongolian languages.)

4. “The golden age” (1851–1880)The beginning of the second half of the 19th century was marked with an

excellent acquisition: four ancient Syriac manuscripts were bought with the money

of the State Treasury from August Pasho, a “Sardinian citizen”. One of them, the

Syriac translation of the Church history by Eusebius of Caesaria in the copy of 462,

is the earliest dated manuscript in the Library.

In the same 1852 the government purchased the collection of historian Mikhail P.

Pogodin: more than 2,000 Russian codices and 1,500 deeds.

In 1852-1863 the “Hermitage library” was transferred from the royal palace. This

event had its own prehistory. Nicolas I gave an order to deliver him 175 illuminated

European manuscripts from the Imperial Public Library in exchange of Russian

books from the court library. Later his successor Alexander II (1855-1881) decided

to pass the rest of the “Hermitage library” (with exclusion of a certain number of


printed books) to the Imperial library, including the above mentioned manuscripts.

The “Hermitage library” contains, beside printed editions, 800 Russian, 500

West-European, 13 Oriental and several dozen of musical manuscripts. It was a real

court library, the bulk of which was gathered by Catherine the Great. Ironically,

German by origin, she was the only Russian monarch who had a strong interest in

Russian history and in Russian historical sources. That is why she not only collected

old manuscripts during her voyages but also ordered all over the country the

copying of the books, which she could not receive in originals9). Catherine also

bought the collection of the historian Prince Mikhail M. Sherbatov which included a

remarkable Russian manuscript, Izbornik (Miscellanany) of 1076, which represents

an anthology of reading matter10).

Several works were gifted to the Empress by the authors, among them an

illustrated Description of monetary manufacture by Andrey A. Nartov11).

Catherine II considered this court library as a private one and gifted its books to

several persons and institutions. On the other hand, a number of items were added to

her collection later, thus, now it is not easy to say how many manuscripts she had.

No doubt, her heirs replenished the collection with a number of excellent books.

Examples:Shah-nama by Firdawsi in the copy of the mid-17th century, with the miniatures

of Isfahan stile; gifted to Alexander I around 1815 by the Persian Crown-prince

Abbas-mirza.

Les Grandes chroniques de France (The Great Chronic of France). The large-size

richly illustrated copy of the mid. 15th century was bought by Nicolas I from

9) See: Альшиц Д.Н. Историческая коллекция Эрмитажного собрания рукописей: памятники XI–XVII: описание. Москва, 1968. (Alshits D.N. Historical collection of the Hermitage manuscripts’ collection: monuments of the 11th–17th centuries: description)

10) Can be seen on; http://expositions.nlr.ru/literature/drevrus/show_Manuscripts.php?i=F0557166-7483-4F3C-853F-74B3D5424DC5&v=XI&l=1

11) See: http://expositions.nlr.ru/ex_manus/Nartov/


count E. Potozki.

Transfers of manuscripts from state institutions took place more than once. Thus,

for example, in 1869 the collection of maps and plans was brought from the General

Army Staff. No need to say that in that time such actions could be realized only by

the wish of the monarch.

In the second half of the 19th century many collections, not only Russian but also

Oriental (Islamic and Christian), were purchased by the Library or bequeathed.

However, the most expensive and/or valuable acquisitions were paid off by the order

of Alexander II (1855-1881). Among them are two collections belonged to foreign

citizens.

In 1858-1859 the Tsar paid for the collection of German Byzantologist

Konstantin Tischendorf, who had assembled Greek papyri and palimpsests,

manuscripts in Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Old Hebrew and Coptic (all in all

200 items) during his voyages to the Near East12). Among them Syriac-Georgian

palimpsest of the 8th and 10th centuries can be named.

With the help of Tischedorf the famous Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century (one

of the tree oldest Greek Bibles – Septuagint – that have survived) was received

from the Monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai. Alexander II covered all the expenses

not only for its acquisition, but also for the facsimile edition of the manuscript. In

1935 the Codex was sold by the Soviet government to the British Museum. Just

several small fragments, received with the collection of Bishop Porphyry (Uspensky)

and kept separately from the Codex, have been saved by the Library; they were

included in the last international publication.

In 1864 the collection of ancient Qurans (130 fragments of 7th-12th centuries) was

bought, which had been gathered by French diplomat and Orientalist Jean-Joseph

Marcel (1776-1754).

12) See: Vasilyeva O.V. Christian manuscripts of the East in the National Library of Russia. In: Manuscripta orientalia. St.Petersburg, 2007. Vol.13, N. 2, June. pp.24-54.


Examples:Quran in Hijazi script, late 7th century.

Illuminated Quran in Kufic script, 10th century (?)

In the reign of Alexander II the influence of the Russian church spread to the

Middle East, and the Christians of the Ottoman Empire considered the Russian Tsar

to be their protector. That helped to acquire the above mentioned Codex Sinaiticus.

Another example is the 10th century Greek Gospel of Trapezund (Trabzon), which

was received in 1859 in exchange of the imperial permission to collect money in

Russia for the construction of the Orthodox cathedral in this Turkish city. Trapezund

Gospel is a fragment of the Evangelia, just several parchment leaves with excellent

miniatures.

(The Russian Orthodox mission was established in Jerusalem in 1847; its two

heads, Bishop Porphyry (Uspensky) (1804-1885) and Archimandrite Antonin

(Kapustin) (1817-1894), were passionate book-lovers, whose collections of Russian

Slavonic, Greek, Syriac, Arabic and Hebrew manuscripts will enter the Imperial

library in the later period. However, these collections are not discussed in this paper.)

In this period several collections of the Russian diplomats were acquired. About a

hundred splendid manuscripts assembled by the Russian ambassador in Iran

Dimitry I. Dolgoruky were paid for by the order of Alexander II.

Examples: Tarikh-i Tabari (“History” by Tabari) in Persian translation was copied in 1430

in the famous work-shop of Baysunqur, the son of the Timurid ruler Shah Rukh

A treatise by the Arab astronomer al-Sufi with drawings of constellations.

The collection of Georgian manuscripts which belonged to Prince Ioann, the son

of the last Georgian King George XII (1798-1800), was bought by the government

in 1880. 360 codices and 76 documents of the time of Georgia’s accession to Russia

partly came from the old Georgian court library and partly were assembled by the

members of the royal family (178 of them were returned to Georgia in 1923).


Example:Georgian Gospel of 996 with two Byzantine miniatures of mid. 10th century.

The huge collection of Oriental, mostly Old Hebrew manuscripts, numbering

around 18,000 items was purchased in 1862-1876 from the Karaite scholar, traveler,

archaeologist and bibliophile Abraham Firkovich (1787-1874) and his heirs.

In 1862, “by the highest order” the so-called “First collection of Firkovich” was

bought, which includes 1,500 Hebrew, Arabic and Karaite manuscripts on leather,

parchment and paper. Among these manuscripts there are the famous “Cairo Bible”

or Codex Leningradensis, the most ancient complete copy of the Old Testament,

dated 101013), and the “Last Prophets” of 916.

After that Firkovich embarked on this second voyage to the Near East and

assembled a new collection there. One of his principle sources was an old

manuscript-depository in Cairo kenesa (Karaite house of worship). For a thousand

roubles he paid to the Karaite community Firkovitch selected from its geniza

(depository of old destroyed books) numerous fragments of different manuscripts.

Samaritan manuscripts (about 1,000 items) from his second collection were sold

to the Library in 1870. The main part of Second Firkovich collection (approximately

15,500 manuscripts and fragments) was kept in the old abandoned city of

Chufut-Qala in the Crimea, where he spent the last ten years of his life studying and

describing his treasures. This enormous collection and the private archive were

finally bought by the government from Firkovich's heirs in 1876. It is one of the

most important and large collections of Hebrew manuscripts in the world known not

only by its scientific but also artistic value14). As an example Pentateuch of 927 can

be named, which represents the oldest dated almost complete copy of the Hebrew

13) The Leningrad codex: A facsimile edition. Gen. ed. D.N. Freedman. Grand Rapids (Mich.) a.o., 1998.

14) Hebrew manuscript ornament. Comp. by A. Kantsedikas, O. Vasilyeva, B. Zaikovsky, Moscow–Tel Aviv, 2003; Vasilyeva O. V. The Firkovich Odessa collection: the history of its acquisition and research, present condition and historical value. In: Studia Orientalia. Helsinki, 2003. № 95. pp.45-54.


Book of the Law of Moses and is remarkable in addition by its illuminated carpet

pages.

It is appropriate to mention here that Alexander II, the “Tsar–Liberator”, “gifted”

his subjects the freedom of movement, and many people began to travel abroad for

pilgrimage, for acquiring artifacts (as Firkovich did), to see the world, or with

scientific aims. For example, Turkologist Vasiliy D. Smirnov (1846-1922) was

acquiring manuscripts for the Library during his trips to the Ottoman Empire, and in

the same period specialist in Indian studies Ivan Minaev (1840-1890) collected

Indian manuscripts which later were received by the Library in accordance with his

testament. Both these scholars were Professors of St-Petersburg University.

The Russian expansion in Central Asia brought to the Public Library numerous

Islamic manuscripts. Their official donator was Konstantin P. von Kaufman,

General-Governor of Turkestan, while the actual task of collecting manuscripts and

other “scholarly materials for scientific societies” was entrusted to Orientalist

Alexander L. Kuhn who served under Kaufman since 1868 till 187615). During this

span of time the “Kaufman Collection” of the Public Library was formed (later it

was divided among several funds). In 1870 the Library received an old Quran

manuscript, which, according to the legend, formerly belonged to the early Muslim

Caliph Uthman (574-656, caliph 644-656). The Quran of Uthman actually was

copied in the 8th century, after the death of Caliph, and in the 18th century it was

restored in Samarqand. It was researched by Alexander F. Shebunin, and in 1905 its

facsimile edition appeared. In 1917, by a special decree signed by Vladimir I. Lenin,

it was returned to the Muslim community and is now preserved in the Spiritual

Centre for the Moslems of Central Asia in Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

The archives of the Khans of Kokand and Khiva arrived to the library in 1875;

15) See: Azad A., Yastrebova O.M. Reflections on an orientalist: Alexander Kuhn (1840-88), the man and his legacy. In: Iranian Studies, 2015. Vol. 48, № 5. P. 675-694; Yastrebova O.M. Reconstruction and description of mirza Muhammad Muqim’s collection of manuscripts in the National Library of Russia. In: Manuscripta Orientalia. St. Petersburg–Helsinki, 1997. Vol. 3, N. 3. pp.24-38.


they were transferred to the Central Archives of Uzbekistan in 1962. Now in the

Library there are about 300 manuscripts donated by Kaufman. Most of them are

later copies made in the 18th-19th centuries.

The last trophy was received by the Library after the Balkan war of 1877-1878.

Several stones with epigraphic inscriptions were transferred from the Turkish

fortresses in Bulgaria, destroyed according to the peace treaty. They became a part

of the interior of the entrance hall of the new building of the Library.

As for Russian archives (documents), in this period and later they usually were

donated by Russian cultural and state figures, their friends and members of their

families. Among them are the archives of historian Nikolay M. Karamzin

(1766-1826), Generalissimo Alexander V. Suvorov (1730-1800), statesman Mikhail

M. Speransky (1772-1839), writer Vladimir F. Odoevsky (1804-1859), composer

Mikhail I. Glinka (1804-1857), etc.

5. Without highest supervision (1881–1817) The tradition of monarchial visits to the Imperial Library as well as great

attention paid by Emperors to this institution was interrupted by Alexander III

(1881-1894). That easily can be explained with the fact that after the assassination

of his father by revolutionaries the new Emperor preferred to live in the Gatchina

palace in the vicinities of the capital. Alexander III was called the

“Tsar-Peace-maker”, as not a single war happened in his reign, and thereafter there

were no trophies. On the other hand, the Library itself had a substantial budget for

purchasing new collections, twice as much as during the previous reign; the number

of donators has grown as well. However, just like his predecessors, Alexander III

transferred to the Library the manuscripts which were gifted to him; among them

three Georgian books and one Hebrew Torah scroll can be mentioned. However, the

West-European codices which came to the possession of this and the next Tsars

were left in the Hermitage.


Nicolas II (1894-1817) also was not an active supporter of the Library; however,

he paid for the amazing Greek purple Gospel of the 6th century and handed over the

collection of the Amir of Bukhara that he received as a gift in 1913 on the occasion

of 300-annyversary of the House of Romanov.

In 1851-1917 about 8,000 Old Russian codices were acquired by the Library

which have formed its “Main collection”; besides, since 1902 Russian businessman

and archaeographer Andrey A. Titov initiated the transfer of his collection, the

largest private one in Russia. It was handed over to the Library in parts; the last part

was received only in 1954.

The Russian documental materials were enriched with the donations of private

archives of the poets Vasiliy A. Zhukovsky (1783-1852) and Konstantin N.

Batyushkov (1787-1855), journalists Andrey A. Kraevsky (1810-1889) and Nikolay

A. Dobrolubov (1836-1861) etc.

6. “Imperial” acquisitions in the Soviet timeAfter the revolution of 1917, when the property of the imperial family, noblemen,

trades people, religious institutions and non-government organizations was

nationalized, the Manuscript department was considerably enlarged with the

collections assembled by these people and organizations before the revolution.

Among them there are small collections of foreign manuscripts transferred from the

royal suburban palaces (in Pavlovsk, “Cottage” in Peterhoff); the libraries of Old

Russian manuscripts which belonged to Kirillo-Belozersk and Solovetsk monasteries,

Alexander Nevsky Lavra, St. Petersburg Ecclesiastical academy, St. Sophia cathedral

in Novgorod, and the library of the Society of lovers of ancient literature.

The Russian documentary section was extremely enlarged with private archives

and collections of autographs.

Simultaneously, in post-revolutionary time an opposite tendency has appeared,

and more than 15,000 manuscripts of “Imperial” provenance were excluded from


Purchased by the highest order Trophies Handing

over Total Not housed in the NLR

Catherine 1762-1796 11,000 11,000 10,700

Pavel I1796-1801 _______

Alexander I1801-1825 200 16,100 16,300 10

Nicolas I1825-1855 45,100 700 20 45,820 150

Alexander II1855-1881 19,000 4,600 900 24,500 4,320

Alexander III1881-1894 4 4 2

Nicolas II1894-1817 21 21

Total: 64,300 16,300 17,045 97,645 15,182

the depository, beginning with Quran of Usman which was handed over to “Muslim

labourers” in 1917. Later handwritten books of the Polish provenance were returned

to Poland, a half of the Georgian collection was transferred to Georgia, the archives

of Kokand and Khiva khans were sent to Uzbekistan. Moreover, in the mid 1930s

along with Codex Sinaiticus about 40 illuminated West-European codices were sold

abroad through “Antikvariat”, the company, which was organized by the Soviet

government for selling artifacts in order to receive money for economic

development of the country.

7. Tables. Acquisitions, received with the help of the imperial familyCalculation not always can be done correctly. In most cases approximate numbers

are provided. However, they give an impression about the development of collections.

The number of the “lost” West-European manuscripts is actually higher, about

13,500 items; but the provenance of around 2,000–2,500 of them is uncertain or/and

not enough documented, and thus cannot be considered as “imperial” acquisitions.

By reign


Section/languages “Imperial” acquisitions Not housed in the NLR

West-European 67,300 10,842

Oriental 24,200 4,339

Old Russian, Slavonic, Greek 6,145 1

By language

8. The library activities and collections’ developmentEarly stages of the new Library’s activity were described in printed Reports

published annually between 1808 and 1817; not only do they inform about new

acquisitions of manuscripts but also reflect other sides of Library’s everyday life.

This tradition was interrupted for several years, until 1851, when Modest A. Korf

(1800-1876) became the Library’s Director and resumed the publication. Reports of

that period inform about most acquisitions and even include several catalogues of

whole collections.

From the very beginning until the revolution of 1917 there were only two

librarians on the staff of the Manuscript department–curator and his assistant.

Collections were catalogued by them and also by invited specialists (honorary

librarians) and librarians of other departments. First step in the manuscripts

description was the preparation of hand-lists (inventories of funds), but handwritten

and even printed catalogues appeared already in the 19th century, beginning with the

catalogues of Greek16), Oriental17) and French18) manuscripts. Two manuscript

curators, Afanasy F. Bychkov (1818–1899), who later became Academician and

16) de Muralt E. Catalogus Codicum Bibliothecae Imperialis Publicae Graecorum. Petropili, 1840: Idem. Catalogue des manuscrits grecs de Bibliothèque Impériale Publique. St. Petersburg, 1864.

17) Dorn B. A., ed. Catalogue des manuscrits et xylographes orienteaux de la Bibliothèque Impériale Publique de Staint-Pétersbourg. St. Petersburg, 1852.

18) Bertrande G. Catalogue des manuscrits français de la Bibliothèque de St.Pétersbourg. Paris, 1874.


Director of the Library, and after him his son Ivan A. Bychkov (1858–1944)

catalogued numerous Russian books and documents.

In 1850s-1860s and later, when the Library was enlarged with new buildings,

several special exhibitions were arranged, in particular, in the Manuscript

department. One of their managers Vladimir Stasov (1824-1906), who later became

a well-known Russian art historian, paid close attention to decorated manuscripts.

He made copies of ornamental patterns and used them later while preparing a huge

album entitled Slavic and Oriental Ornamentation from Ancient and Modern

Manuscripts (St. Petersburg, 1887, in Russian). At the same time he participated in

the publication of another album, in collaboration with David Gunzburg, namely,

Ornamentation des anciens manuscrits hébreux de la Bibliothèque impériale

publique de St-Petersbourg (St. Petersboug,1886).

Facsimile editions of four most important manuscripts were undertaken, the first

of them being the Books of Last Prophets of 916 in Hebrew19). Usually important

publications were gifted to the largest libraries of Europe in order to introduce

Russian collections to the European scholarship. Starting with the reign of

Alexander II up to 1930s dozens of manuscripts were loaned abroad for the aims of

research.

After 1917 international contacts were partly suspended, however, specialists

raised in the previous historical period together with the new generations of Soviet

scholars did their best helping to enlarge the manuscript collections and to expose

their significance to the public. Beside numerous catalogues, books, and albums

several dozens of facsimile editions have appeared since the 1960s. Moreover, the

Manuscript department took part in numerous exhibitions of which about 30 were

international ones; most of these exhibitions were accompanied with printed

catalogues. Along with these traditional activities the Library undertakes efforts in

presenting its valuable collections using modern technologies.

19) Prophetarum Posteriorum: Codex Babylonicus Petropolitanus. Ed. H. Strack. Petropoli, 1876.


9. In the beginning of the 21th centuryAt the present time about 432,000 items are housed in the Manuscript department

of the National Library of Russia. They are divided between four sections: Old

Russian, Slavonic and Greek manuscripts (35,000 items), Russian archives of the

18th-21st centuries (293,000 items including musical scores, drawings, maps and

plans), West-European codices and archival documents (ca. 76,000 items), Oriental

materials (28,000 manuscripts in 25 languages, codices as well as scrolls, block-prints,

documents, drawings, etc.). Besides these four major sections, there are three more

supporting ones: the Sector of reading-room service and bibliographical support, the

Sector of acquisitions and documentation and the Codicological laboratory.

Manuscript Department’s collections are represented on its own web-site, mostly

in Russian with just a few resources in English20). Users can find here general

information on the Department: its history, structural divisions and collections, the

list of funds, electronic catalogue, publications, information on conferences and

exhibitions, several video films, contacts, news, etc.

The most interesting web-site sections are 54 on-line exhibitions and 10

INTERNET resources which introduce valuable manuscripts or thematically

selected complexes of documents. Not all of them deal with the “imperial”

acquisitions; however they provide a comprehensive insight into collections.

INTERNET resourcesFrom the sacred ark. On the occasion of the bicentennial of the opening of the

National Library of Russia, Library’s constituent documents have been introduced to

the public.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/ex_manus/ustav/

20) http://www.nlr.ru/manuscripts/


Old Russian literature in manuscripts. This resource is addressed primarily to

the students of the Old Russian language and culture. It provides access to the digital

images of 29 books of the 11th-17th centuries and information on the literary works

contained in them, with detailed description of the manuscripts and transliteration of

texts. The preface section tells users about Old Russian literature, its difference from

the literature of the new time, tendencies of different centuries, and explains

principles of transliteration and search tools.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/literature/

Russian autographs: monuments of Russian writing in the collections of the

Manuscript department. Resource was prepared by the Codicological laboratory for

both students and professionals.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/rusautograph/

Life of St. Sergius of Radonezh – autograph of Pachomius the Serb (In

English).

From this resource users can learn about the most famous Russian Saint Sergius

of Radonezh and the monastery (present Trinity-Sergius Lavra) founded by him. It

also tells about hagiographer Pachomius the Serb and his activities in the mid 15th

century, as well as about the history of the manuscript. The images of the

manuscript’s pages are accompanied with the modern transcription of the text.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/ex_manus/SergeyRadonezhsky/eng/

Codex Zographensis (In English). This project deals with the rare

Tetraevangelium Zographense, manuscript of the four Gospels written in Glagolic

script – ancient Slavic alphabet. This is a unique example of an almost complete

Glagolic book, major part of which was created in the 11th century. It had been kept

in the Zograf Monastery on the Holy Mount Athos for many years until in 1860 the

manuscript was presented to Alexander II by the monks of the monastery, and later

transferred to the Imperial Public Library.


Not long ago the monks of the Zograf Monastery, while visiting the Manuscript

Department, informed about their work aimed to describe and digitize the ancient

books from the monastery's depository, and to establish the «Zographensis Room»

– an electronic research library at Sofia University (Bulgaria). Codex Zographensis

was scanned to make this treasure accessible to the public. As in other cases, several

prefaces are followed with the manuscript’s copy accompanied with the modern

Cyrillic transcription.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/ex_manus/Zograph_Gospel/eng/

Laurentian chronicle 1377. The manuscript, which bears the name of the copyist

monk Laurenty, is the earliest dated Russian chronicle and serves as a very

important narrative sours on Russian history.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/LaurentianCodex/manuscript1.html

Euphrosynus manuscripts – fifteenth-century miscellanies of the “Leonardo

da Vinchi of Ancient Russia” (In English). Euphrosynus was a person of wide

knowledge and interests, and this has been reflected in the scope of texts he read and

copied for himself. Works included in five Euphrosynus miscellanies cover an

almost encyclopedic range of subjects. They are a valuable testimony of cultural and

historical processes that took place in Old Russia at the time then European

civilization experienced the period of the Renaissance. One of the miscellanies is

illustrated with miniatures by the icon-painter Ephraim Trebes specifically for

Euphrosynus, on one of them Alexander the Great is depicted.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/EfrosinManuscripts/eng/index.php?lang=en

“Russian justice” is the title of the first collection of laws which were enacted by

the grand dukes of Kievan Russia Yaroslaw the Wise (1016-1054), his sons and

Vladimir Monomah (1113-1125). It was composed in the 11th-12th centuries and

exists in a hundred copies, 30 of which are kept in the Library, the earliest one dated

to the 15th century.


http://expositions.nlr.ru/ruspravda/

A.A. Nartov. “Description of monetary manufacture”: The manuscript of 1779

from the Hermitage collection. Russian scientist Andrey Nartov (1737-1813)

composed an illustrated work about technological process in the mint of St.

Petersburg and donated it to Catherina II.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/ex_manus/Nartov/

400th Anniversary of the Romanov Dynasty: Music Gifts for the Russian

Emperors (In English). This online resource gives the chance to view a hundred

pieces of music of the 18th-20th centuries presented to the Russian Emperors as gifts.

Not only domestic composers dedicated and donated their works to the imperial

persons. Music scores were brought by musicians, visiting Russia, from different

countries or were sent from abroad. The title pages of the manuscripts and the words

of vocal works are written in various languages, including Russian, French, Italian,

German, etc. The part of these scores entered the Public Library along with the

Hermitage collection, others were handed over later.

http://expositions.nlr.ru/MusicalManuscripts/eng/index.php?lang=en

54 on-line exhibitions introduce various complexes of manuscripts, each

important from a certain point of view21). Created on different occasions,

together with other electronic projects they represent the valuable collections of

the National Library of Russia.

21) See, for example, the first exhibition “Cultural heritage of Europe in the collections of the National Library of Russia”: http://expositions.nlr.ru/eng/cult/


10. Conclusion We can state that from the very beginning the Imperial Public Library and its

Manuscript Department in particular were being formed as universal, multi-cultural,

“cross-national” book repository that followed the European model, and this was

done with the active help and strong support of the Russian monarchs.

The bulk of the foreign (West-European, Greek and Oriental) stocks were formed

in the Imperial period, mostly with the help of the Emperors, whereas collections of

Russian manuscripts and especially archives were actively acquired also in the

Soviet time and are still growing at the present.

It is difficult to say how many dissertations, monographs, textbooks and articles

have been based on the materials from this “state’s gold treasury”. “Imperial”

acquisitions were appreciated in the past and they are called-for up till now. Starting

with 1870s the most valuable codices were published in facsimile, images from

many manuscripts have been included in albums and exhibition catalogues. Many

items are represented in the on-line exhibitions and other electronic recourses on the

web-site of the Library. Two books of paramount importance, The Ostromir Gospel

and Codex Sinaiticus, were recently discussed at special international conferences,

proceedings of which were published some years ago. No doubt, this treasury will

be increasingly in demand of future generations as well.

russian emperors and the imperial public...

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