Unique folios of the 16th-20th centuries available at the Presidential Library’s virtual exhibition

Today it is possible to see and look through rare books that previously were not available to a wide audience thanks to the virtual tour of the exhibition Monuments of book culture: from print to digital on the Presidential Library’s portal which is available in the historic building of the Synod on Senate Square, 3. 

The exposition was based on the collections of the Presidential Library, which number about two and a half thousand editions of the 16th-20th centuries. They were purchased by VTB Bank at a Christie's auction and donated to the Presidential Library in May 2009 at the grand opening of the institution. It should be noted that electronic copies of these priceless books enter the library’s collections as they are digitized.

Most of the collections is unique: many books can be attributed to the monuments of the state, and some of the world importance. Thanks to the virtual tour it is now possible not only see rarities, but also “flip through” them: electronic copies allow examining one or another monument of literature in great detail.

The composition "Notes about Muscovy" by the German diplomat and traveler Sigismund Herberstein, published in Basel in 1551, is considered the earliest book in the collections of the Presidential Library. Other rare copies is the Bible - one of the best illustrated editions of the 17th century: the New and Old Testaments translated by Martin Luther (1672), as well as the rarest copy of the New Testament (1717) published by decree of Peter I from the edition printed in The Hague, but later almost completely destroyed for inconsistency with the Orthodox canon.

The exposition features illustrated publications, for example, coronation collections of Russian monarchs, starting from Anna Ioannovna, with drawings and engravings by famous artists: “Antiquities of the Russian State, published by the Highest Command” (1849–1853), “Byzantine enamels” (1852), “Panorama of Moscow” with a length of more than 4.5 meters, published in Paris in the first half of the 19th century, and many others.

The exposition also includes the first publications of prominent Russian writers and poets, including I. A. Bunin, N. V. Gogol, F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, N. A. Nekrasov, printed during the lifetime of the authors. Autographed works by the Russian art critic N. N. Wrangel, the explorer of Mongolia and Tibet P. K. Kozlov, the artist D. I. Mitrokhin, books from the imperial and grand ducal libraries attract interest.

It is worth noting that part of the exhibition is devoted to publications of the 19th-20th centuries that were banned. For example, in the filing of the magazine "Capital and Estate" in No. 55 for 1917 one has opportunity to see little-known photographs of the family of the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II, taken by his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. For a long time this issue was withdrawn from circulation.

Virtual projects are an actively developing area of activity of the Presidential Library, thanks to which the electronic repository, along with paper, photo, audio and video materials, is entered with exhibits and items from museum collections. They are available on the Presidential Library’s portal in the Exhibitions section at the link https://www.prlib.ru/about_exhibition.