Unique books, photographs, personal possessions - the history of the "first women's university" displayed at the Presidential Library

Connecting with history and time, feeling the atmosphere of the XIX century is now possible in the Presidential Library - today, October 8, 2018, in the building on Senate Square, 3, the exposition “Bestuzhev courses in the mirror of the library: marking the 140th anniversary of the foundation of Women's (Bestuzhev) courses”, prepared jointly with the St. Petersburg State University, was solemnly opened.

“Uniqueness is the defining word for this event”, - said the Director of the M. Gorky Research Library of the St. Petersburg State University at the opening of the exhibition Marina Karpova. “Its uniqueness is based on the fact that today the two largest libraries, the Presidential Library and the Research Library of the St. Petersburg State University - represent the library, which has gone through decades and has remained almost unchanged”.

Exhibition visitors will learn the history of the library formed at the Higher Women's (Bestuzhev) courses, thanks to which women first had the opportunity to receive perfect higher education. The exhibits represent photographs, rare books, library items, multimedia content and other materials – which make it possible to immerse in the life of Bestuzhev women, and allow you to see not only the world of study, but also everyday life. For example, bookmarks found in books are of great interest. In their capacity, girls used tickets for the tram and the theater, leaflets for the tear-off calendar, advertisements, dried flowers, notes, bills and receipts - all this gives an idea of ​​what women of the late 19th-early 20th century lived and thought about.

The Bestuzhev Library is a fundamental book collection, the rarest monument to Russian library culture. Exhibition visitors at the Presidential Library will be able to touch it, familiarize themselves with the estate library of Prince A. D. Saltykov, the nominal book collections of the famous literary critic N. M. Mikhailovsky, Professor of History E. Zamyslovsky and other prominent people.

Partners of the exhibition were the M. Gorky Research Library of the St. Petersburg State University, the Central State Archive of Cinema and Photo Documents of St. Petersburg.

The exhibition will run until November 14, 2018. To visit the exposition, you should first pre-register by phone (812) 334-25-14 or send an e-mail to the address: excursion@prlib.ru.