History of Book: Russian Museum acquires a facsimile of the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation of Tsar Ivan IV

The State Russian Museum’s library (St. Petersburg) has acquired a unique example of ancient Russian art – a facsimile of the Illustrated Chronicle Compilation, which was commissioned by Tsar Ivan IV.

The edition covers nine volumes of Russia’s chronicle “from the creation of the world up to 1567”, which includes over 16 000 miniatures and texts, authored by artists and chroniclers of the ancient Russia.

- This was a project of the national importance which took tens of authors a decade to complete, - said Irina Solovyova, the Head of the Ancient Russian Art Division of the State Russian Museum. – Ivan Vasilyevich considered it to be a very serious matter, many of the chronicle’s pages bear personal notes once made by the Tsar himself.

It was very hard for the general public to get access to the chronicle compilation. Earlier facsimiles are available only at the State Historical Museum in Moscow. Now residents of St. Petersburg can discover the unique edition, too.