Outlines of our world: Recent acquisitions of the Presidential Library

"…In the course of 18th - 19th cc. the key objective of the Hydrographic Service was the creation of detailed and accurate maps and sailing directions for the seas, washing the shores of Russia, large rivers and lakes, to ensure the safety of ships and vessels... " - reads the 4-volume book “The History of the Hydrographic Service of the Russian Navy” (1997), which has recently become available on the portal of the Presidential Library.

It is worth noting that new acquisitions mark the upcoming momentous date for naval hydrographers. The Office of the Hydrographer General at the Naval Ministry of the Russian Empire was established on October 13, 1827. It marked the beginning of the modern hydrographic service of the national Navy, which marks its 191st anniversary in 2018.

On the portal of the Presidential Library you can look through the collection of works entitled “Hydrographers during the Great Patriotic War” (1975) and issues of the oldest magazine “Sketches on Hydrography” (1940s), which feature useful scientific recommendations and records, made shortly before and during the Great Patriotic War.

What is more, the Presidential Library provides free access to unique studies, atlases of seas, oceans and coastal zones, which had been compiled by Russian sailors. The results of their hard and dangerous work had initiated modern, more extensive research. More than 150 oceanographic and hydrographic vessels of the Russian Navy are currently operating in different parts of the World Ocean.

Of particular interest is the rare 1826 edition of the “Atlas of the north of the Eastern (Pacific) Ocean”, compiled under the guidance of an outstanding traveler, admiral, the first and the only Russian Hydrographer General, Gavriil Andreevich Sarychev, who can be rightfully called the father of the Russian naval hydrography.

"He made a great contribution to exploration of the areas, he had visited. He wrote 28 journals, which present hydrographic description of a wide variety of geographical objects (bays, capes, islands, rivers)”, “The History of the Hydrographic Service of the Russian Navy” reads.

The book by M. A. Lyalina entitled  “Russian Navigators of the Arctic and the World” (1898) provides a lot of noteworthy details about the researcher.

In particular, the publication describes a journey to Siberia, that was little studied at that time. It was there that a young Lieutenant Sarychev was supposed to set off for another expedition by order of Empress Catherine II: "Here the traveler was warned that in the winter no one except for the post travelled to Okhotsk, since the route was through uninhabited areas and was covered with deep snow. He was advised to wait for the spring. But Sarychev could not wait and, having enough provisions and warm clothing, he set off on January 22 ... For the person unaccustomed to such conditions it was a very hard journey. Every day from morning till night it was necessary to ride a horse and spend the nights deep in the snow with no chance to take off clothes or change underwear".

By the way, it was during that trip that G. A. Sarychev along with other researchers made a contribution towards the compilation of the map of the Eastern Siberia (1844), which is also available for study on the portal of the Presidential Library.

The above-mentioned book by M. A. Lyalina features first-hand accounts of the hydrographer Sarychev, in particular, about his first experience of riding a deer and acquaintance with such a means of travelling as skis: "I had to ski for more than seventy versts. Being new to it I was extremely exhausted. While taking each step the skis twisted and bumped into bushes, or against each other, that is why I fell down over and over again and sank in snow, and could not get out without help”.

The collections of the Presidential Library include maps, compiled by Admiral Sarychev, as well as prints and drawings made during expeditions of his followers, including the Siberian expedition. They are available in any Electronic Reading Room of the Presidential Library. Currently there are over 600 reading rooms in all 85 regions of Russia.

The Presidential Library in particular focuses on the history of Russian statehood. Its regular acquisitions feature unique rare materials about the Russian army and navy.