The Year of Literature Pushkin era document is available to all

In honor of the launch of the Year of Literature, the Presidential Library gave over to the National Pushkin Museum first digitized "Charter granted to the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum by Emperor Alexander I, September 22, 1811." This unique historical document is the most important exhibit of the media center opened at the Museum-Estate of G. R. Derzhavin - a branch of the National Pushkin Museum. The ceremony took place in the days of celebrating the 200th anniversary of the meeting between Derzhavin and Pushkin at the exam in Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. It happened in 1815, and the "Charter" was granted by the emperor to Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum in 1811.

Thus, thanks to modern digital technology and cooperation of the museum and library, the unique document is preserved to the history and made publicly available.

The ceremony of delivery of an electronic copy of the rarity and of the Media Center opening was attended by Deputy Minister of Culture of Russia Elena Milovzorova. It was noted that the "Charter" is considered a rare historical document that was previously not available to a wider audience. It had been carefully digitized by specialists of the Presidential Library using the most modern technology. Now it is available to all - in the Media Center of the National Pushkin Museum and on the Presidential Library website.

The Charter granted to the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum by Emperor Alexander I, was a worthy contribution to the collection developed by the Media Center of the National Pushkin Museum and another "gem" that joined the holdings of the Presidential Library, which today numbers more than 370,000 units. Materials about the life and works of Pushkin will continue to join the library’s holdings, because they reflect not only the history of literature, but also of the Russian state.

The digitized document given over to the National Pushkin Museum also includes the Regulations of the Lyceum, which set out the purpose, structure, rights and benefits of the establishment and organization of the internal control. The "Charter" is a book in hard cover, covered with gold brocade, embroidered with silk with a fancy frame, raised monogram of Alexander I on the front cover and double-headed eagle on the back cover.

Twelve sheets of parchment, decorated with watercolor paintings of K. Novoselov, containing handwritten text of the Charter, interlaid with the sheets of green silk taffeta. On the last page you can see the signature of Alexander I and Count A. K. Razumovsky. On the back of the last page there is an ink inscription: "Sealed in the State Collegium of Foreign Affairs on September 27, 1811, N 3747."