History of a book: Exhibition “French original and translated book in Russia in the XVIII-XIX centuries” in Moscow

As part of the cross Year of French and Russian languages ​​in Russia and France on October 2, 2012 at the Russian State Library opens an exhibition devoted to the history of French books in Russia. The French language and the French book in the broad sense (as books published in France, and the French edition, published in Holland, Switzerland, England, and translations of French authors in Russian) were the most important factors in the Russian Enlightenment of the XVIII century and they contributed to the Europeanization of the Russian culture.

Among the exhibits are the French editions of the XVIII-XIX centuries with bookplates of libraries of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, the Hermitage, the Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace, the General Headquarters, and the Ministry of the Navy, the Moscow Theological Academy, the Optina Monastery, the Moscow Commercial School, and the Preobrazhensky Regiment.

Copies of the publications of philosophical, scientific, technical and fiction literature of France belonged to libraries of noble families – the Sheremetev family, the Orlov-Davydov family, the Vorontsov-Dashkov family, the Golitsyn family and collections of famous Russian Bibliophiles - Count N. P. Rumyantsev, A. N. Neustroeva, K. M. Soloviev, V. A. Desnitskii and others.

The variety of books of the XVIII-XIX centuries, conventionally consolidated into a concept "French book in Russia", are represented by the works of French playwrights of the XVII century Racine, Corneille, Molière in the original publications, and Russian translations of the XVIII century; philosophical and literary works of Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, Montesquieu, novels by Prevost, Marivaux, Lesage and Bernardin de Saint-Pierre, novels and short stories by Marmontel and Florian, the comedy by Beaumarchais, educational treatises by Fenelon, scientific works by Bonnet, Bossuet, Buffon, Lalande, books on martial arts, manuals, dictionaries, guides, publications devoted to etiquette, medicine, gardening, and fashion. Among the books in the XIX century are lifetime editions of Honore de Balzac, François de Chateaubriand, Alexandre Dumas, Gustave Flaubert, and others. Their Russian translations are offered to the public.

Most of the exhibits are rare books from the museum book collection of the RSL, and they also are presented copies of the main depository libraries. The exposition is accompanied by engravings of the XVIII-XIX centuries from the department of fine art editions of the RSL.