To mark the World Book and Copyright Day: Exhibition in the National Library of Russia

World Book and Copyright Day was declared by UNESCO in 1995 and is celebrated annually on April 23. The purpose of the celebration is to promote education and preservation of cultural traditions.

The exhibition of artistic bookbinding and book illustration opens April 23, 2014, in the new building of the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg) as part of the first "Baltic Biennale of book art".

This year theme of the Biennale is the work of Pushkin. This year marks the 215th anniversary of the birth of the great Russian author.

The exhibition features unique editions of the "Pushkin collection" from the holdings of the National Library of Russia. The collection includes both lifetime editions of the poet, and all domestic editions of his works up to the present day and foreign collections in Russian – totally about 7000 items.

Visitors can see the first posthumous edition of the collected works of Pushkin (Typography of expedition of State Paper, 1838.), a cotton cover of the "Queen of Spades" with illustrations by Alexander Benois (Petrograd: Association of R. Golicke and A. Vilborg, 1917) and other rare publications from the NLR collection with illustrations by Ivan Bilibin, George Shlikht, Vladimir Konashevych.

Among the exhibits - the works of masters of the Baltic states, representing the author's cover, Artists' Book, objects and installations, works of art photo and video art, publications of the poet’s drawings and other.

One section of the exhibition will present the books of St. Petersburg publishing house "Vita Nova" associated with the name of Alexander Pushkin. The design of the books uses the works of classical masters and talented contemporary artists.

Hardcover made by artist makes an ordinary book a work of art. Exhibition in the NLR is a step towards the revival of bookbinding craftsmanship as one of the rare types of applied art.

The exhibition will run until June 10.