Unique tomes of the 16th – 20th centuries available at the Presidential Library’s virtual exhibition

It was possible to see and look through rare books that were not previously accessible to a wide audience thanks to the virtual tour Monuments of Book Culture: From Print to Digital presented on the Presidential Library's portal, which is available in the historic building of the Synod on Senate Square, 3.

The exposition is based on copies from the Presidential Library’s collection, which has about two and a half thousand publications of the 16th – 20th centuries. They were acquired by VTB Bank at 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 replenish the library’s collections as they are digitized.

Most of the collection is unique: many books can be attributed to the monuments of state, and some of world significance. Thanks to the virtual tour, one can not only see rarities, but also “look through” them: electronic copies allow examining in detail the particular monument of literature.

“The Notes of Muscovy” by the German diplomat and traveler Sigismund Herberstein, published in Basel in 1551, is considered the earliest book in the collection of the Presidential Library. Among 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 a print run in the Hague, but later almost completely destroyed for non-compliance with the Orthodox canon.

The exhibition 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, published during the lifetime of the authors. The autographed works by Russian art historian N. N. Wrangel, Mongolian and Tibetan researcher P. K. Kozlov, artist D. I. Mitrokhin, and books from the imperial and grand-ducal libraries are of interest.

It is worth noting that part of the exhibition is devoted to banned publications of the XIX – XX centuries. For example, in the binder of the magazine Capital and Manor No. 55 for 1917, one can see little-known photographs of the family of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II made by his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. For a long time this issue was withdrawn from circulation.

The exhibition Monuments of Book Culture: From Print to Digital has become another exhibition that has moved from real space to digital. The Presidential Library’s portal provides virtual tours of exhibitions of various topics: “Keeping Orthodox faith: the history of church museums. Marking the 1030th anniversary of the Christianization of Rus’”, “Journey from Petrograd to Moscow. 1918: marking the 100th anniversary of the relocation of the Soviet government and the capital to Moscow”, “The Saving Sword of the Revolution”: the Chekist in life, cinema and literature”, “An Artist Against the Fuhrer: Fascism in the Caricatures of Boris Yefimov. Marking the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II”, “More than a Game: Marking FIFA World Cup in Russia” and others.

One can also remotely visit the legendary cruiser Aurora, the State Memorial Museum of  the Defence and Siege of Leningrad, the Kobona: Road of Life museum, And Muses Were Not Silent..., and even visit the House-Museum of the famous writer and journalist Yulian Semenov in Crimea.

Visitors to the Presidential Library’s portal from anywhere in the world can have a tour around the historic building of the Synod, which today houses a modern multifunctional cultural and educational center, visit the Constitution Hall with the permanent exposition spotlighting the main documents of the Russian Federation.