Society and book culture: “Journey from Petersburg to Moscow” by A. N. Radischev. On the 225th anniversary of publishing the book” exhibition in Moscow

From 10 to 30 October 2015, the exhibition site of the marble staircase of the Russian State Library (Moscow) displays books and illustrations from the collections of the RSL ""Journey from Petersburg to Moscow" by A. N. Radischev. On the 225th anniversary of publishing the book."

In 1790, "Journey from Petersburg to Moscow" was ordered to be burnt. Almost the entire edition was destroyed; the author was sentenced to death but pardoned and exiled for ten years in Siberia, Ilimsk jail. From the twenties of the nineteenth century, the name of the author was a taboo, he was not mentioned in literary articles or reviews. In 1836, an article of Pushkin about the author of this book, written for the "Contemporary" was banned for printing. Only 21 years later, in 1857, the article appeared in the collected works of the poet. Owing to this people started talking about the author of the banned book.

The exhibition at the Russian State Library presents some of the editions of the "Journey..." arranged in chronological order, as well as the most interesting copies of the book to mark the anniversary dates of the author's biography. In the period from 1917 to 1991 more than 500 editions of the book were published.

In addition to the main work, on display are the collections covering the issues of philosophy, pedagogical views of Radischev, economic problems and others. The main feature of the exhibition is the display of a fairly large number of publications devoted to the activities of Radischev, his family and seven children, numerous descendants, who were certainly influenced by the personality of their father and grandfather.