History of Saint-Petersburg: The book-illustrative exhibition “Petersburg of 1913. Anniversaries, news, cultural life”

August 23, 2013 in the Korff hall of the Main Building of the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg) has opened a book exhibition-illustrative exhibition “Petersburg in 1913. Anniversaries, news, cultural life”.

The exhibition presents unique editions of the Russian and magazine collection of the library, as well as from the Department of Prints, published in 1913. These are - books, albums, newspapers, magazines, photographs and postcards.

One of the sections of the exhibition is devoted to the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Noteworthy are the memorable albums released in 1913 in honor of significant anniversaries: the 200th anniversary of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, the 200th anniversary of the Botanical Garden, the 100th anniversary of the Trading House of the Yeliseevs. 

The exhibition also features publication issued by a partnership of Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorsky, a famous Russian photographer, chemist, inventor of color photography.

One of the sections of the exhibition tells the story of a rich literary and theatrical life of St. Petersburg in 1913. Here are the unique collections and anthologies of poems and plays of futurists and Ego-Futurists.

Among the rarities of the exhibition are publications of the fairy tale “The Golden Cockerel” with illustrations by Russian artist, a member of the “World of Art” Ivan Bilibin.

The exhibition also features a collection of poems of Akhmatova, Mandelstam, Gorodetsky, Block, books Taffy and Charskaya issued in 1913. The guests will learn about the anthology “Apollo”, “Sirin”, “The World of Art”.

The exhibition is complemented with popular St. Petersburg magazines published in 1913.

The exposition, dedicated to St. Petersburg in 1913 would not be complete without a chapter on the military component of the capital. The bulk of the books presented in the “Military Petersburg” are publications of the Russian Guards, higher military schools and military societies Petersburg of the early XX century (1900-1913). Here are presented the publications of the Guard Corps, much of which was stationed in St. Petersburg and its suburbs, on the shelves that were part of the case. The the publications of higher military educational institutions of the Russian Empire - Imperial Nikolaev Military Academy, as well as the first two regiments of the Russian Guards Preobrazhensky and Semenov, formed by Peter I in 1691 do also attract attention.  Among the exhibits are books, issued by the Military Historical Society and the Society of adherents of military knowledge. 

The design of the exhibition uses copies of photographs depicting St. Petersburg in 1913 from the collection of V. Y. Kurbatov.

The exhibition will run till September 27.