Treasures of the Lenin Library
Our series “Treasures of the Lenin Library” introduces you to rare and valuable items from the Russian State Library's collections. Each article tells the story of how these works became treasures of world culture – and why.
During its short heyday, the Atelier of Fashion decided to launch a magazine called Atelier aimed at the humanities intelligentsia, especially the artistic crowd. Cultural figures shaped by the Silver Age were keen to get involved with this aesthete publication.
In Russian literature, the most comprehensive account of the sibyls appears in a translated work: 'A Book on the Sibyls: How Many There Were, What They Were Called, and Their Prophecies', which comes from the personal collection of the founder of the Russian State Library, Count Nikolay Rumyantsev. Today this rarity is held in the Research Department of Manuscripts at the RSL.
The story of one of the most valuable documents in the Armenian manuscript collection – the 1489 Tetraevangelion (Vaspurakan). This book returned to the RSL in 2014 after many years away undergoing restoration.
The story of the Tsar's Psalter (1370–1399), which was given as a donation to the Trinity St. Sergius Lavra and kept for a long time in the monastery's vestry. Ivan Vasilyevich Lyovochkin (1934–2013), chief researcher of the Manuscript Books Section at the Research Department of Manuscripts, wrote about Ivan the Terrible's Psalter in his book Essays on the History of the Russian Book, 11th–17th Centuries.
About Ivan Petrovich Myatlev's book Sensations and Observations of Mrs. Kurdyukova Abroad, Dans l'Étrange, which was considered one of the funniest books of the mid 19th century. Ivan Petrovich Myatlev – a wealthy man, poet and an inimitable master of pranks – structured his own life according to the laws of vaudeville.
The story of the literary and artistic magazine Firebird, which was published in Russian in Berlin from 1921 to 1926. The circle of authors for Firebird included Konstantin Balmont, Leonid Andreyev, Nadezhda Teffi, Boris Pilnyak, Alexei Remizov, Vladimir Nabokov (under the pseudonym V. Sirin), Vladislav Khodasevich, Ivan Sokolov Mikitov, and a whole host of other writers.
The story of the Dobrilovo Gospel from the library of the Moscow sovereigns. The Gospel has been in the Russian State Library since its very foundation – it is part of the collection of Count Nikolay Petrovich Rumyantsev, founder of the Rumyantsev Museum and Library, from which the RSL originated.
About the manuscripts of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky held at the Russian State Library. Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky's (1821–1881) drafts and notebooks form the RSL collection No. 93, kept in the Research Department of Manuscripts.
The story of Schweipolt Fiol, the creator of incunabula in Church Slavonic. Four of Fiol's five books are held in the Lenin Library collections, and digitised copies are available in its Electronic Library.
The journal Children's Museum began publication in Russia in 1815. It told children about the peoples of the world, the plants and animals of different countries – in three languages: Russian, German and French. 'Museum' appeared on the wave of growing public interest in the education and upbringing of children and young people.
The story of Moscow's oldest humorous magazine Razvlecheniye (Entertainment), which was published in the second half of the 19th century for over forty years, and of the album dedicated to the magazine's 40th anniversary.
A story about books and maps connected with the Naval Cadet Corps that are held at the Russian State Library.
A story about books from the libraries of old Russian country estates. On the one hand, Russian estate life fostered the talents of figures such as Andrey Timofeyevich Bolotov; on the other, it was precisely thanks to such people that estate life became a whole culture in its own right.
A story about the early editions of Miguel Cervantes' great novel in the collections of the Russian State Library, and about the illustrations within them.
A story about books from the RSL collections in which you can see rare portraits of the spouses of 19th century Russian emperors. An exhibition on this theme was held at the library in 2013, and it was then that this text – describing the portraits – was written.
Who was Orestes Somov – the man to whom Pushkin gave a copy of the fifth chapter of 'Eugene Onegin' with his autograph? What later soured their relationship? And what journey did the book itself undergo before ending up in the Russian State Library? This article about valuable exhibits in the RSL Book Museum, part of the “Treasures of the Lenin Library” series, was written by Larisa Rovnyanskaya in the early 2010s.
The poetry cycle The Secret Word of Foma Smyslov, a Russian Veteran Soldier', the songs “By the Black Sea” and “Once Upon a Time I Lived…” were phenomenally popular in their day. Despite being utterly different, they share one author. He is Semyon Kirsanov (1906–1972) – a Soviet poet now almost forgotten. Larisa Rovnyanskaya's account of Kirsanov is published as part of the 'Treasures of the Lenin Library' series.