Grigory Nikolaevich Gennadi Date of birth ... Wikipedia

Gennadi- Gennadi, Grigory Nikolaevich Grigory Nikolaevich Gennadi Date of birth: March 18 (30), 1826 (18260330) ... Wikipedia

Grigory Gennadi

Grigory Nikolaevich Gennadi- G.N. Gennadi Grigory Nikolaevich Gennadi (March 18 (30), 1826, St. Petersburg February 26 (March 9), 1880, ibid.) Russian bibliographer, bibliophile and historian of Russian literature of the 19th century. Contents 1 Biography ... Wikipedia

Pnin, Ivan Petrovich- Writer; illegitimate son of Prince Nikolai Vasilievich Repnin (born 1734, d. 1801), Pnin was born in 1773 and was educated first at the Moscow University Noble Boarding School (since 1784), and then at the Artillery Engineering ... ...

Gennadi, Grigory Nikolaevich- famous bibliographer and bibliophile; was born on March 18, 1826 in St. Petersburg. His ancestors were Greeks. Grandfather, Alexander Gennadi, having moved to Russia, served at the court of Empress Catherine II. He was listed in the lists of the Semenovsky regiment and at one time ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Spiridov, Matvey Grigorievich- famous Russian genealogist, senator, son of the famous admiral Grigory Andreevich S., born in 1751, died in 1829; biographical information about external events in his life is rather scarce; It is known that upon reaching adulthood, he ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Gennadi Grigory Nikolaevich- Gennadi, Grigory Nikolaevich, a well-known bibliographer (1826 1880). He graduated from the course at the Faculty of Law of St. Petersburg University. In 1861 1863 he was a mediator in the Sychevsky district; then he lived the life of a rich man who gave his ... ... Biographical Dictionary

Buturlin, Count Dimitri Petrovich- son of Count Pyotr Alexandrovich, director of the Imperial Hermitage, a well-known bibliophile; genus. December 14, 1763, d. November 7, 1829 in Florence His successor was Empress Catherine II, who granted him a sergeant at the very baptism ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Lachinova, Ekaterina Petrovna- (nee Shelashnikova) writer; the wife of General Nikolai Emelyanovich, wrote under the pseudonym "Khamar Dabanov". In 1842, an excerpt from her novel "Zakuban Haramzade" was placed in 54 tons of "Libraries for Reading", ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia

Gennadi Grigory Nikolaevich- (1826 1880), Russian bibliographer. Proceedings: index "Literature of Russian bibliography" (1858), bio-bibliographic "Reference dictionary about Russian writers and scientists who died in the XVIII-XIX centuries ..." (vol. 1 3, letters A R, published in 1876 1906). * * *… … encyclopedic Dictionary

There was such a common phrase in magazine publishing circles in Soviet times: "The editorial portfolio is full for a year (two, three ...) in advance." So my own editorial and publishing portfolio contains dozens of titles of future books and articles that I would like to write. In this regard, the well-known lines of Taras Shevchenko are recalled: “My thoughts, my thoughts, // I am famously with you!” Two conceived books are presented in this article not only as a detailed idea, but also as an invitation to joint creativity.

Both of these projects, as they say, lie on the surface, and it is surprising that they have not been implemented or discussed even just as an idea until now.

Russian book rarities of the 20th century

For many bibliophiles and connoisseurs, the reference book is the catalog “Russian book rarities. The experience of a bibliographic description of rare books indicating their value” by the famous bibliographer and second-hand book dealer Nikolai Ilyich Berezin (1866‒1938), better known as N.B., for it was with these initials that he indicated his authorship on the title page. The first part of the book was published in Moscow in 1902 and contains 691 titles of publications. Somewhat later, an addition was published in the form of the second part, which included 361 more positions. Total - 1052 rare books. Catalog "Dedicated to all lovers and collectors of rare books." In the preface N.I. Berezin explains that the purpose of his work is the desire to make the life of his colleagues more comfortable, who before that had to spend a lot of time trying to find the names of book rarities that interest them in antiquarian catalogs. This edition greatly facilitated this task, and the author focused specifically on the 19th century, emphasizing that he did not want to repeat the work already done by his predecessors - B.C. Sopikov, N.V. Guberti, I.M. Ostroglazov. Therefore, only the brightest and most famous editions were included in the catalog from among the books published before 1820.

Now, when more than 12 years have passed since the end of the previous century, it is quite possible, without haste and fuss, to ask the question of the relevance of creating a similar catalog of rare books of the twentieth century. This may be preceded by a discussion among experts on the subject of criteria for selecting specific publications. It seems that there should be only one compiler of the catalog, as it has always been in the history of Russian bibliography of rare books, but the discussion around the proposed editions can be open. In any case, some notes of the subjective bibliophile approach have a right to exist.

1. Books that were printed in a limited number of copies and did not go on sale.

2. Books that were destroyed for whatever reason.

3. Prints from magazines, mostly published in the amount of 100 copies.

4. Publications printed in a remote province.

5. Genealogies or genealogical studies, as intended for relatives and friends, published for the most part in a very small number of copies not for sale.

6. Folk and so-called "flying" publications printed for some event, for example, for wars: 1812, 1854, 1877, on the occasion of the royal visit, coronation and many other events 1 .

It must be said that this classification is mainly based on the circulation of publications received in distribution. At the same time, the catalog itself contains enough secondary books sold through stores and remaining in a small number of copies on sale. Paradoxically, of course, the absence of lifetime editions of A.S. Pushkin, despite the fact that his collected works of 1887, edited by P.O. Morozov is present in the first part of the catalog. He also sins with other features inherent in a rather short period of collecting interests in terms of time. First of all, we are talking about the wide inclusion in the list of rarities of prints and books of a historical nature, moreover, published in the last third of the 19th century. 2 . The interest in various issues of Russian history that existed at the beginning of the 20th century naturally allowed second-hand booksellers to consider these areas to be very popular.

And, of course, there are quite curious positions in the list, also for some reason beloved by domestic bibliophiles 3 .

Already in the 1920s, serious discussions flared up between scientists, book dealers and bibliophiles about what can be called a rare book and what is its cultural value and relevance. 4 . Without going into the theory and definitions of book rarities, we will express our point of view.

Even in relation to many indicated by N.B. rare books, the position of modern bibliophiles is very skeptical. Not notorious descriptions of dust microorganisms on the Volga steamships, coins of the Jochids, Doragands, Dzhelairids of the Tokhtamysh era, and not even the pedigrees of the Selifontovs and Molostvovs make their hearts beat faster. Give us all lifetime Gogol, Pushkin, Lermontov! We are ready to sob over the "Northern Flowers" and "Nevsky Almanac", and over many others not mentioned in the catalog of N.B. "Russian book rarities". Increasingly, the general cultural significance of a rare edition is becoming the main criterion influencing its demand and pricing.

And an endless series of historical works on narrow directions has long taken its rightful place on the shelves of state libraries, gradually disappearing from bibliophile collections. Information of a historical nature has become publicly available and does not have the effect of novelty that in the 19th century.

The combination of these two factors - rarity and cultural significance - becomes even more significant in relation to the books of the twentieth century. Small-circulation brochures by Russian historians from 1900 to 1990 are attractive to bibliophiles only in the case of extremely interesting factual material*. And in this context, we are no longer talking about small-circulation publications in the exact sciences and natural sciences. All of the above publications have very little chance of getting into the category of book monuments.

* Of course, various prints are present in the personal collections of bibliophiles and thematically complement certain sections. But it is difficult to meet a book collector who would bypass second-hand booksellers "in the hunt" for such rarities.

The main routes of book collecting bypass these peripheral areas.

In the most approximate outline, we will try to identify the main segments of book rarities of the twentieth century. At the same time, we emphasize once again that the quantitative criteria of N.I. Berezina is not accepted by us as a self-sufficient factor; to a greater extent, we are based on the classical definition of book monuments** 5 , although for some books, as for good wine, sufficient temporary aroma has not yet been accumulated. Therefore, for the time being, we are not so much skeptical about the publications of the 1980s and 1990s, but we imply the need for a longer temporary pause. We also cannot give numerous examples with bibliographic descriptions within the framework of this article, so we allow ourselves a more free style of presentation.

** The term "book monument" is synonymous with the traditional "rare book" and "valuable book" and has the following three meanings: 1) books published or preserved in a small number of copies; 2) books published or preserved in a small number of copies and outstanding in terms of their quality characteristics; 3) books that stand out in terms of their quality characteristics, regardless of the number of copies they exist (the term “valuable book” is also used to refer to the latter).

1. The first books of famous poets, published, as a rule, in circulations of 200-500 copies. We are talking, for example, about A.A. Akhmatova, B.L. Pasternak, V.V. Mayakovsky, O.E. Mandelstam, M.I. Tsvetaeva, N.S. Gumilyov, V.V. Nabokov, B.K. Livshits and others.

2. Rare books of the Russian avant-garde, including copies with the author's coloring***.

*** In general, the topic of author's coloring is an independent direction. We only note that it was in the 20th century that it was possible to more confidently isolate the segment of publications that were printed with the original idea of ​​​​issuing a part of the circulation with the author's coloring. A vivid example is the booklets of the artel of artists "Today" from among 125 copies of each edition with such a coloring. They deserve, in our opinion, to be included in the list under discussion.

3. Small-circulation bibliophile editions of the 1910–20s. It is unlikely that publications with a circulation of 900‒2000 copies can get into this chapter, but such rarities as V.M. Konashevich, "Nevsky Prospekt" N.V. Gogol, “Fourteen Drawings of the Ukrainian Alphabet” by G.I. Narbuta, personalized colored copies of the books of the Akvilon publishing house, the complete “Le livre de la marquise”, “What is tobacco” by A.M. Remizova and others. 6 must be in it.

4. The most significant and rare children's books, including the works of O.E. Mandelstam, B.L. Pasternak, D. Kharms and others.

5. Rare small-circulation, provincial, confiscated newspapers and magazines that have made a significant contribution to the history of Russian periodicals.

6. Banned and destroyed for ideological reasons, books of great cultural significance. As an example, we will cite the completed Yu.P. Annenkov “Order R.V.S. Republic No. 279", the first and only volume of "Demons" by F.M. Dostoevsky and "Tales, Songs, Riddles" designed by V.V. Lebedev publishing house "Academia", etc. 7 At the same time, it is also obvious that the bulk of the various books and brochures that were withdrawn from sale and libraries, due to the presence of the names of “enemies of the people”, will not be included in our list.

7. Rare interesting publications of the era of the Civil War, the Gulag, some departmental and secret publications.

8. Literal editions for members of the Central Committee of the CPSU and high-ranking nomenclature workers, published in Soviet times by the Progress publishing house in small editions and actually do not appear even today on the antiquarian and second-hand book market 8 . However, this position seems to us to require additional discussion.

9. The first editions of the works of some Soviet authors (I.E. Babel, E.L. Schwartz, A.V. Vampilov, A. Platonov, I. Ilf and E. Petrov, M.A. Bulgakov) that disappeared in the "reader's embrace" ), about which one of the authors of this collection, I.Yu., writes in detail in his article. Okhlopkov.

10. A number of constructivist publications of the 1920s and 1930s.

The question remains whether our catalog should include books published in the Baltic countries in the 1920s and 30s, as well as, for example, the Berlin editions of Petropolis and some other publishers. However, there are many such questions. In order to organize effective work, we would like to conduct an experiment that is unique for the scientific and bibliophilic community: on one of the popular “book-oriented” sites, we would like to post a list of rare books prepared by us and organize a discussion of it among bibliophiles, bibliophiles and second-hand booksellers for several months with the possibility of suggesting new ones. names and positions.

Such work could be organized next year, and the catalog itself would be published in 2015.

The third volume of "My Library" N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky

Looking through the auction and used catalogs, the inquisitive reader can easily find a note there: "Smirnov-Sokolsky does not have it." The same phrase is constantly heard in the conversations of bibliologists, second-hand booksellers and bibliophiles. Indeed, the legendary two-volume book 9, with all the variety of publications presented and seemingly even exhaustive completeness, has its own specifics, allowing you to think about creating its supplement.

At the same time, we recall that almost one and a half volumes are occupied by an annotated part, which is extremely in demand in the book community. Quotations from descriptions of specific publications are present in many bibliographic works, the same auction catalogs, and are simply reproduced in oral conversations of connoisseurs of the old book. 10 . Actually, these 2300 titles are the essence of N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky, they correspond to the vectors of his collecting activity. If we recall military maps with thick red arrows indicating the direction of the advances of armies, regiments and battalions, then these lines of the bibliophile course emerge from the annotated part of My Library: books of the 18th century, lifetime editions of Russian classics, almanacs and collections, bibliophile rarities, periodicals etc.

The second, unannotated part of the catalog includes about 2500 items. A significant place here is occupied by fiction, including the Silver Age and the Soviet period, criticism and literary criticism, books on art, theater and music history, and, of course, bibliography, which in essence should have been included in the annotated part of the catalog. But in general, the unannotated part of N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky does not claim to be exhaustive and it is quite obvious that it can be supplemented and expanded to infinity. Thus, it is unlikely that the third volume of the Smirnov-Sokolsky library can be built on the principle of supplementing this part of the book collection. Such work does not make sense and would be contrary to the essence and spirit of the book treasury of the great bibliophile. Well, really, does it really turn the tongue to say about any of the editions of the “Academia” or about the poetry collections of S.A. Yesenina, O.E. Mandelstam or V.V. Mayakovsky: "They were not in the library of Smirnov-Sokolsky"?

Therefore, the third volume should be formed from the descriptions of the books located on the “pillar road” of the annotated part of the two-volume book, albeit consisting of less significant paths and paths. Naturally, first of all - from the books of the 19th century, and without going into the endless book field of fiction, children's books, historical and popular science publications of its last third. Exceptions may be special copies, bibliophile rarities and extremely curious publications that would not cut the eye on the shelves of the famous library. Of course, this is a somewhat subjective approach, but are there private book collections that are not created on such a platform?

Probably, single copies could penetrate into the third volume from the twentieth century, but only as an exception. Looking ahead, let us cite as an example the famous uncensored three-volume set of letters by V.G. Belinsky 11 , indicated even in the "Desiderata" by P.P. Shibanova 12 and absent from N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky.

Only a bibliophile has the right to form a third volume with such a concept. It is the private collection “Smirnov-Sokolsky does not have it”, compiled by the works of a book hunter one by one, in writings, in running around second-hand bookshops, in battles with competitors at auctions, found and acquired from personal collections or exchanged with passions and disputes from his colleagues, formed for many years, in a word, what you have suffered, can become an equivalent continuation of the legendary "My Library". In addition, such a collection, colored by the tastes of the owner, avoids discussions about why this or that edition did not get into the notorious third volume.

Secretly from second-hand booksellers and dealers, in order not to raise prices for such items, I began to form this part of my library about three or four years ago. Logic suggests that such secret work should have been continued and there is no need to reveal your plans to the bibliophile-secondhand public. But at the same time, she needs help in finding such publications. About 150-200 books were picked up during the indicated period of time, and the pace, for obvious reasons, slowed down. The book market is not endless, and financial resources do not allow it to be done with the ease that was inherent in the famous artist and founder of the Variety Theater. Finding and acquiring a book on this topic once a week is an almost unattainable dream. But for a full-fledged annotated third volume (there is no doubt that it should contain the same rich and interesting historical and literary references and bibliographic descriptions), at least about 500 books are required (50 books a year - ten years of searching!). Let us recall that 1388 publications are described in the first volume of My Library. True, the illustrative series is not as rich as it could be. I believe that, in accordance with the newly established traditions of publishing catalogs and descriptions of book collections from private collections, 500 titles named would be quite enough for a worthy preparation of the third volume of My Library 13 .

I want to make a reservation right away that the errors encountered in the nominal and thematic indexes of the two-volume book can also provoke individual bibliographic blunders in the new project. But where without them?

Now, having specified all the criteria for book additions, we can try to segment the publications that are not in the annotated part of the catalog of the Smirnov-Sokolsky library.

Let's start with real desiderata, which simply did not come into the view of the great collector. A striking example of such publications is "The Tale of the Adventure of the English Milord George and the Brandenburg Margravine Frederick Louise" by Matvey Komarov. The famous collection contained only the sixth edition of 1834. At the same time, N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky writes:

“All my efforts to obtain the first edition of the Tale, or any edition of the 18th century, have been in vain. Acquiring an edition even in 1834 was not an easy task at all. So few copies of them have survived" 14 .

At the same time, the collector considered it necessary, following the 1834 edition, to describe the Sytin edition of 1888 available in his library, although it would seem that such a “rarity” does not belong in the annotated part of the catalog.

Based on my collecting experience, I can say that in our days it is somewhat easier to come across The Tale of My Lord than in the blessed times of book abundance in the era of Smirnov-Sokolsky. I came across it in different editions, but three copies got into the library in terms of price-quality ratio. Moreover, two of them are the fourth edition of 1791 with a rich illustrative series.

Smirnov-Sokolsky described the well-known plot of the publication of the book and its further history, but for unknown reasons, the textbook quotation from the poem by N.A. Nekrasov "Who should live well in Russia":

Eh! eh! will the time come

When (come, welcome! ..)

Let the peasant understand

What is a portrait of a portrait,

What is a book a book?

When a man is not Blucher

And not my lord stupid -

Belinsky and Gogol

Will you carry it from the market?

By the way, in the unannotated part of the catalog we will find a description of "Military exploits and anecdotes of the Prussian General - Field Marshal and orders of different states of the Chevalier Blucher, taken from his own notes, since the French Revolution", published in Moscow in 1813‒1814 with a portrait of G. .-B. Blucher engraved by A.P. Grachev 15 .

The compilers of My Library reproduced only the frontispiece with the portrait of my lord and the title page of the Moscow edition of 1834. It seems that the reader of the third volume will be very interested to see some other pictures (as Smirnov-Sokolsky noted, "roughly engraved") illustrating the content of the story.

We will allow ourselves such a detailed story about one of the publications that were not in the bibliophile collection under consideration only once, and in the future, in order to save money, we will simply give examples of one or two books for each section.

Obviously, the early printed books were not the object of desire of the famous collector. Only two editions of the 17th century are described in My Library - Slavonic Grammar by Melety Smotrytsky of 1648 (apparently, Smirnov-Sokolsky was attracted by a wonderful provenance: "an excellent copy in red morocco of a later time, with a gold edge. From the collection of N. Yu. Ulyaninsky") and "Synopsis, or Brief collection from various chroniclers about the beginning of the Slavic-Russian people" of 1680 16 . Thus, early printed books cannot be an organic addition to the annotated part of My Library.

The situation with those published in the 19th century is seen somewhat differently. numerous descriptions of temples and monasteries. Some of them are present in the famous bibliophile collection. For example, the well-known publication “Historical notes and information about the Pokrovsky and St. Basil's Cathedral” by A.E. Belyankin of 1847 or “Alphabetical index of personal names, geographical names, monasteries, churches, cemeteries and various objects, mentioned in books 8‒13 “Life and Works of M.P. Pogodin” of 1899 17, etc. For obvious reasons (personal worldview and attitude to the religion of the Soviet state) Smirnov-Sokolsky did not develop this topic in his book collection, although such publications are designed in the classical spirit of Russian books of the 19th century and are equipped, as a rule, with wonderful lithographs or engravings (often folding) with views of one or another monastery. It seems that they fit perfectly into the concept of the third volume of My Library. To date, our collection contains more than 30 such publications, for the description of which there should be a separate section.

A similar picture looks with publications dedicated to the Russian provinces. If Smirnov-Sokolsky had more than enough books about Moscow, its architectural monuments, life and customs of Muscovites, and there were classic books about St. Petersburg, then other books “about cities and towns” are virtually absent. Well, the great bibliophile did not really like the Russian province outside of the "journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow"! Meanwhile, there are many such books, and they have the same characteristic features as the publications described in the previous section. Well, why is any “Walk through the ancient Kolomna district with the application of lithographed drawings” by N.D. Ivanchina-Pisareva, printed in Moscow in the printing house of August Semyon in 1844?! The wonderful “Historical Review of Nizhny Novgorod and the Makariev Fair translated there” by Ivan Guryanov in 1824 or “A Trip to Yakutsk” by N.Shch. [Nikolay Shchukin] 1833 with the table "Images of animal trades"? eighteen

Continue this series of travel books, so popular with modern collectors. But N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky allowed them to his library only on a short closed list 19 , apparently, having once made such a decision. But after all, it is more than strange not to have in the library of the classical sense such textbook books as the two-volume Description of the Land of Kamchatka by S.P. Krasheninnikova

1755 or 1786 or "Journey to Persia" by G. Drouville in 1826 is a wonderful example of the work of artists and printers of the Pushkin era. And there are more than enough such wonderful books!

N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky editions of the 18th century also have thematic gaps. Apparently, the collector left these gaps quite deliberately, "being of sound mind and sober memory", concentrating on literary works. Although, if we talk about the fact that the classical library strives for the widest possible coverage of notebook book rarities, it is difficult to explain why the curiosity of “Description of a louse seen through a microscope” by F.V. Karzhavin of 1789 is worthy of a famous library, but the rare "Memoria, or Artillery Notes" by P. Saint-Remy of 1732‒1733, for which the font was specially cast, is not. Apparently, the collector avoided the "militarist" theme, limiting himself to some Peter's publications ("Doctrine and Practice of Artillery" in 1711, the luxurious "Book of Mars" in 1713). This is also confirmed by the absence of, say, Sebastian de Vauban’s “Book on the Attack and Defense of Fortresses” of 1744, the rare “Military Regulations” (both 1719 and 1841) and other similar publications. Thus, there will be something to add to the third volume of My Library from among the rare books of the 18th century and publications devoted to the army theme of the first half of the 19th century. We know that among them there are also quite hard-to-find, well-illustrated publications. A small section of the most interesting books can be formed in the spirit of the Smirnov-Sokolsky library, avoiding the topic "History of regiments" with pompous editions. And a number of other thematic publications of the 18th century will organically complement this section of the book collection.

The question of the possibility of the presence of various ceremonials of the first half and the middle of the 19th century as a small dome remains open. On the one hand, it is quite obvious that, for ideological reasons and formed book predilections, they did not fit into the library of the famous bibliophile. On the other hand, very informative texts, printed in a small number of copies and enclosed in specially made folders for noble people, are a logical section of any library of the classical sense, serving as its decoration.

Artistic works and illustrated editions, which appeared in abundance in the first half and the middle of the 19th century, make it possible to find dozens of books that simply must be present in the collection of Smirnov-Sokolsky, but are not in the two-volume "My Library".

Everything connected with the name of A.S. Pushkin was carefully collected by Nikolai Pavlovich. This series includes late illustrated editions and albums of illustrations for classical works: an album of drawings by P.P. Sokolov to "Eugene Onegin", "Gavriiliada" with illustrations by S.V. Corn (1940), Brussels edition of "Petropolis" "Eugene Onegin" with illustrations by M.V. Dobuzhinsky, Akvilon's "The Miserly Knight" with his own drawings (1922), "Little Tragedies" with illustrations by V.A. Favorsky (1961), etc. But where are the many other publications? Without delving into the post-revolutionary period, it is natural to put in this series of Pushkinians a rare album by K. Schreider "Essays on Boris Godunov" (1842), "The Captain's Daughter" published by V.G. Gauthier with illustrations by the same P.P. Sokolov (1891). Or maybe numerous editions of "Eugene Onegin" from the unpretentious XIX century to more luxurious ones with illustrations by E.P. Samokish-Sudkovskaya?

Without citing the works of minor authors as examples, we note that among the books of 19th-century writers, extensively represented in the first volume of My Library, there are remarkable gaps that simply need to be filled. So, among the books of P.P. Svinin's famous five-volume "Sights of St. Petersburg and its environs" are missing; at I.A. Goncharov - the first editions of "Oblomov", "Cliff", "Pallada Frigate"; N.S. Leskov - "On knives", the first editions of "Trifles of Bishop's Life" (there is only the fourth edition of 1915); ON THE. Nekrasov - the first complete, albeit posthumous, infrequent edition of "Who Lives Well in Russia" (1880); many lifetime editions of I.S. Turgenev.

Of course, N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky, having bright literary predilections and interests, shaped the library, like all major bibliophiles, according to his personal taste, placing his own book milestones and laying his own routes. Now you can’t talk to a great scribe and ask why certain gaps exist in the library. And I would like to!

One of these questions should certainly concern the pillars of Russian literature - L.N. Tolstoy and F.M. Dostoevsky. The first is represented by "Military stories" (quite understandably - the first book!) And several collected works. The second - also with collections and a complete set of "The Writer's Diary". Let us leave rhetorical questions about the absence of famous first editions of classical works hanging in the air. It is quite obvious that they repeatedly came across to the great collector (I believe that including in excellent form and with autographs), but did not arouse his interest. Unlike, say, A.P. Chekhov, descriptions of the first three books of which and a number of collected works we will find in the same section “Books of the 19th century. Russian writers and scientists" of the first volume.

We note at the same time that to the collected works of N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky had an unconditional weakness and, apparently, sometimes considered it sufficient to put him on the shelf and, as they say, “close the topic” associated with this or that name, especially if the writer’s work was in the second half of the 19th century. A vivid example of this is P.I. Melnikov-Pechersky. The library had only Wolf's collection of his works of 1911 and a rare anonymous edition of the pro-government brochure "On Russian Truth and Polish Falsehood" of 1863 in a full-leather tray 20 .

On the whole, it is still not very clear whether such collected works were selected for reading at leisure or whether they filled the niches of the “obligatory” Russian classics, individual editions of which Smirnov-Sokolsky did not consider it necessary to put on the shelves of his library.

A touching theme with the section of fiction (and perhaps existing in itself) are dramatic works, not only plays, but also vaudevilles, as well as librettos of operas and operettas. The famous bibliophile had more than enough such publications; they are present in various sections of My Library. But, of course, far from complete. As an example, let us cite the resounding success and named P.N. Berkov "rare" 21 the original comedy "Lizonka" by the famous playwright and theater historian P.N. Arapova 1858, “Ivan Savelich. Moscow Joke-Vaudeville” F.A. Horses of 1835, “Katenka, or Seven woo one gets. Comedy-Vaudeville" in 1836, etc. At the same time, a number of other comedies by the same Arapov and his "Chronicle of the Russian Theater" were in the collection of Smirnov-Sokolsky.

Many children's books of the first half and middle of the 19th century remained outside the field of bibliophilic predilections. We know that the classic book collector turned his attention to children's almanacs and collections, as well as illustrated alphabets of this era. In addition, in his collection, of course, there were the first editions of P.P. Ershov, "Colorful Tales" by V.F. Odoevsky, various editions of fables by I.A. Krylov and some other classic books. But there was not much: from the rarest "Black Hen" by A. Pogorelsky to a whole set of other works that were then successful 22 .

Among the works of foreign authors of the 18th-19th centuries, we will find several books devoted to the theme of Freemasonry. Among them are "Divine and True Metaphysics" by D. Pordage of 1787 (copy of its publisher N.I. Novikov), "Mason without a Mask" by T. Wilson of 1784, "Apology, or Defense of the Order of Freemasons" by I.A. Stark of 1784, “The Voltairians, or the History of the Jacobins, Revealing All Against Christian Evils and Mysteries of the Masonic Lodges” by H. de Barruel of 1805‒1809, etc. But a large number of books on this topic are missing. Suffice it to say that in the alphabetical index of authors there is no name of Eckartshausen, whose works were published quite actively in Russia in the first third of the 19th century. Let us mention as an example the missing “Fragments from the Works of Mr. Eckartshausen” of 1803, a copy of which is in our library from the collection of S. Lifar with his signet-bookplate on the front flyleaf. Among such books there are noteworthy rarities, which include “Letters to a friend and testament to his son about the Order of St.<ободных>TO<аменщиков>”, mentioned by N.B., I.M. Ostroglazov and G.N. Gennadi 23 .

We have already mentioned that the section of the bibliography located in the unannotated part of the catalog deserves to be included in its first part. Smirnov-Sokolsky had all the main "hits" of this section, which are obligatory for a serious library. But nevertheless, there is something to replenish this chapter of the bibliophile novel. Missing, for example, is the rare “Catalogue of Publications Stored in the Imperial Public Library, Printed in Civil Type under Peter the Great” by A.F. Bychkov 1867 24 , "The rarest books printed in Russia in Russian" S.R. Mintslov, 1904, (circulation of 100 copies) and a number of others.

In conclusion, let us also mention certain gaps in periodicals. Of course, we will not include in them the filings of the magazines Ogonyok, Rabotnitsa, or even Niva. But, for example, "Russian invalid" is present with a very detailed annotation, but only for the first year of publication (1813). Isn't the content of this famous weekly in the subsequent Pushkin era interesting? And why is the “Son of the Fatherland”, which contains many Pushkin's lifetime publications, completely absent? Swinging into another era, we find that in the selection of the magazine "Among Collectors" there are no, judging by the description in "My Library", all issues for the rarest 1921.

Thus, we have presented the possible content of the third volume with only the broadest strokes and single examples. Judging by the experience of past years, the pace of selection of material is such that the required number of books will be collected by 2020, which inspires optimism and life prospects. By working at an accelerated pace, you can get a chance to present the desired annotated catalog in 2019 at the Fifth Conference "Bibliophilia and Personal Collections". Thus, the baton leading to the boundaries of the life horizon is passed to all participants of the current conference. I am sure that the Pashkov Dom publishing house of the Russian State Library will be able to adequately implement this plan, repeating the aesthetics of the legendary green two-volume edition of My Library in dust jackets that we all remember.

______________

1 N.B. [N.I. Berezin]. Russian book rarities: bibliogr experience. descriptions of rare books with indication of their values. M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004. Part 1. S. 9.

2 See, for example: Ibid. Part 1. No. 193, 214, 320; Part 2. No. 52, 65, 210, 213, 236, 326 and more. others

3 See, for example: Gruzdev S.S. Microorganisms of dust on the Volga ships: bacterial. studies of Dr. med. S. Gruzdev, ord. Clinics prof. V.A. Manassein in St. Petersburg. SPb.: Type. P.P. Soykina, 1891; N.B. [N.I. Berezin]. Russian book rarities ... Part 2. No. 74.

4 See: Malein A.I., Fleur M.G. About a rare book. M.; Pg.: GIZ, 1923; Kufaev M.N. Problems of philosophy of the book. L.: The Beginnings of Knowledge, 1924; Shibanov P.P. Desiderata of a Russian bibliophile: the rarest books and their modern price: (to a report in the Russian Island of Friends of the Book, April 15, 1927) / [Akts. o-in "International book" ... Antique bookstore]. M.: 13th type. Mospoligraf "The Thought of a Printer", 1927.

5 See: Knigovedcheskoe annotation and systematization of book monuments: method. recommendations / Ros. state b-ka; comp.: L.I. Berdnikov, S.S. Ishkova, I.M. Polonskaya, I.Yu. Fomenko, E.I. Yatsunok. M.: RSL Publishing House, 1997. S. 3–4.

6 See about them in more detail: Seslavinsky M.V., Tarakanova O.L. Books for gourmets. S. 50, 5, 47, 18.

7 See for more details: Blum A.V. Forbidden Books of Russian Writers and Literary Critics, 1917‒1991: An Index of Soviet Censorship with Commentaries. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg. state University of Culture and Arts, 2003, p. 127.

8 See for more details: Pankov Yu.V. Literature for special purposes // About books. 2011. No. 2. P. 66–77.

9 Smirnov-Sokolsky N.P. My library: Bibliographic descriptions: in 2 vols. M .: Kniga, 1969.

10 See, for example: Lavrov V.V. Book fever. Moscow, second half of the 20th century: printed treasures, bibliophiles, second-hand booksellers: a detective in faces, documents, memoirs and legends. M.: Prince. club 36.6, 2007. S. 106.

11 See: Belinsky V.G. Letters: in 3 volumes / ed. and note. E.A. Lyatsky. SPb.: Type. MM. Stasyulevich, 1914.

12 See: Shibanov P.P. Desiderata of a Russian bibliophile. No. 378.

13 As examples, we mention that in the book “The Aroma of Bookbinding: Domestic Individual Binding of the 19th–20th Centuries” (M., 2011), about 500 publications are described, in the album “Rendezvous: Russian Artists in French Book Publishing in the First Half of the 20th Century” (M. ., 2009) - more than 100 books, in the album "A garland of books and pictures: children's reading in pre-revolutionary Russia" (M., 2011) - 250 books, in the catalog "Lifetime editions of Russian writers of the 18th - early 20th centuries in the collection of Mikhail Petrovich Krasnov" (M., 2012) - 464 books, in the catalog "Books and manuscripts in the collection of I.Yu. Okhlopkov" (M., 2009) - 278 books.

14 Smirnov-Sokolsky N.P. My library. T. 1. S. 88.

15 Ibid. T. 2. S. 341.

16 Ibid. T. 1. S. 17–18.

17 Ibid. T. 2. S. 332.

18 N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky was only the book of N.S. Shchukin "Angara rapids: Siberian true story" (St. Petersburg, 1835). See: No. 1260.

19 As examples, we will name A.E. Martynov "A picturesque journey from Moscow to the Chinese border" (St. Petersburg: Type. A. Plushara, 1819). See: No. 4217 or: Kinneira J.-M. A topographical description of the route from Arzrum to Trebizond, with a historical and statistical survey of these important cities, as well as all the places lying between them, and their mutual distance between them / Ed. on the occasion of the conquest of the city of Arzrum by the victorious Russian troops. M. : Universitetsk. type., 1829. No. 3958.

20 Smirnov-Sokolsky N.P. My library. T. 1. S. 348–349.

21 Berkov P.N. History of Soviet Bibliophilia (1917‒1967). M.: Book, 1983. S. 98.

22 See, for example: Seslavinsky M.V. Garland of books and pictures: children's reading in pre-revolutionary Russia. T. 1. S. 19, 126, 130.

23 N.B. [N.I. Berezin]. Russian book rarities ... Ch. 1. No. 437; Ostroglazov I.M. Book rarities. SPb., 1892. No. 269; Gennadi G.N. Russian book rarities. SPb.: Type.A. Trench, 1872. S. 143.

24 N.B. [N.I. Berezin]. Russian book rarities ... Ch. 1. No. 86; Gennadi G.N. Russian book rarities. No. 213; Ostroglazov I.M. Book rarities. No. 143.

Original taken from aldusku in M.S. "Book rarities of the XX century: 333 selected books" (review experience)

I never wrote reviews and generally did not describe modern books, but in this case
I am overwhelmed with emotions (moreover, very pleasant :). I am glad to present a new book by a respected
bibliophile Mikhail Vadimovich Seslavinsky "Book rarities of the XX century:
333 selected books". What is the best place to start? Probably explain why
that when I heard about its release (it was announced on December 3, 2016 at the non/fiction fair), I dropped everything and rushed to Moscow.

On the importance of landmarks

Many people have been counting Russian bibliophilia since the publication of the work Grigory Gennadi(YY) "Russian book rarities" in 1872. Of course, collecting existed before, but it turned into collecting at the moment of creating at least some kind of qualification and defining landmarks (first of all, what is considered rare and valuable, a collector's dream).

Grigory Nikolaevich released a genie, from that moment there are eternal discussions about the concept of rarity and value, their relationship, booksellers of the past and present without fail put "Rare and Valuable Books" on any catalog. Any bibliophile is ready to throw his five cents into this endless discourse (some in the name of the higher: developing general criteria, and the majority describing their collections subjectively, becoming like booksellers, not skimping on the definition of "book rarity"). Of course, “rarity” and “value” are subjective concepts that depend on time and fashion. For example, at the beginning of the twentieth century, many books banned by censorship were recognized as unconditional gems of the collection, and after 1917 these publications were published in millions of copies, and mentioning them can only make us smile. Absolutely right said Rats M.V. that collecting any topic - you yourself will definitely make your list of desiderat after a while (I don’t remember verbatim, but the meaning is clear).

But collectors need catalogs of, shall we say, recognized rarities written in an attempt to be objective. For all the time there have been few of them: in addition to Gennady, we can name: N.B. [Berezin, N. I.] Russian book rarities (1902), maybe: Shibanov P.P. Our desertata (1927). Other wonderful catalogs are based either on a personal collection (for example: both brothers Ostroglazovs , Smirnov-Sokolsky N.P., Vengerov S. A. with his Bibliochronicle) or are thematic in nature (for example: 105 Solovyov's catalog devoted to illustrated editions, Dobrovolsky L. M.- forbidden publications, Bitovt - publications of the 18th century). And although contemporaries criticized some of the positions of N.B. or Gennady, and they make us smile, but we know these catalogs and are madly happy when we find a book from our collection in them (or use them as a guide when forming a collection).

The 20th century is the age of the dawn of bibliophilia, the age of mass books, the age of revolutions, wars and fires (the bitter components of rarity). He passed, and his book rarities were not formed and described. It always seemed to me to be a huge work, the author of which should be an authoritative bibliophile of our time. That is why, when I read that at the non/fiction fair, on December 3, M.V. Seslavinsky presented his book "Russian book rarities of the twentieth century: 333 selected books" I dropped everything and went to Moscow. For me, among my bibliophile contemporaries, there is no person more authoritative and devoted to antiquarian books than Mikhail Vadimovich.

Detective purchase history

A reliable person said that labor would be sold in a store at the RSL. Having overcome thousands of kilometers, and being in a store in Leninka building III, I heard from a nice woman named Tatyana that all 10 copies. The books that were handed over for sale were bought yesterday by a man. And that even she, Tatyana, did not have time to get it for herself. When she heard that I had come specially to purchase this book, she began to call various people from the Pashkov Dom publishing house, everything was refused (everything was sold). In the end, they gave me a piece of paper with the name of the fatherland and with the office phone number of the only employee of the publishing house, whom they could not get through to.

The last hope to acquire the cherished book today disappeared when I dialed the number at the checkpoint and heard that the person I needed was not there, and would not be. But suddenly I heard a voice behind me: “What question are you looking for me for?”. Turning around, I saw a nice woman, and blurted out in one gulp: “Natalya G...na, I’m a bibliophile, I came from the provinces to buy Seslavinsky’s book,” she frowned: “No, all copies are sold,” looking again at my upset face, added: - And you yourself? satisfied with one copy? - "Of course yes" - "Then give us 300 rubles and wait here."

And finally, the Book is in my hands. Thanks to the lovely ladies (especially to my wife, because on New Year's Eve and over 1000 km by car for the sake of a book ... not every wife of a bibliophile will be able to break loose)! For such a miracle only 300 rubles.?! it is clear why, they swept away the entire circulation, because just looking at how it was published, you understand its minimum price should be 800 rubles. By the way, even now it is already being sold on aliba, apparently by the same enterprising citizen who took a dozen copies. My opinion about such a “business smile” is sharply negative, because the price of the publishing house (just ridiculous) indicates the desire of the author (M.S.) to promote antiquarian books and bibliophilia, even without full compensation for their costs.

Appearance.

The appearance of the treasured acquisition fully corresponded to the content, a real bibliophile edition. Dimensions correspond to the volume of the publisher Academy. The cover uses a drawing from a destroyed edition. Marshak S.Ya. "Fairy tales. Songs. Riddles" 1935 with illustrations by V. Lebedev. What about paper? I immediately remembered my childhood, when my father brought stacks of purchased books and I, before flipping through them, opened and inhaled the aroma of paper. What lovely bookends. A well-made edition with a lovely lace.

The inner world of the publication.

The Magic of Numbers

Mikhail Vadimovich points out that the number of considered rarities is not accidental. “The beautiful number 333 we have chosen corresponds to the circulation of the cult bibliophile edition of “Treasured Tales” by A.M. Remizov, published in 1920 through the efforts of the Alkonost publishing house". But this is not entirely true, it is very, very difficult to fit into this number, and to the delight of the reader, numbers 71.1 appear (for example, Severyanin took 280-280.34). Thus, the composition of book rarities included 384 edition, not 333 .

Classification experience

The author has done a titanic job. The work includes diverse publications, the only thing that unites them is that they are truly universally recognized book values. In the foreword by M.S. refers to the category of book monuments of the XX century:

1. The first books of famous poets, published, as a rule, in circulation of 200-500 copies. We are talking, for example, about A. Akhmatova, B. Pasternak, V. Mayakovsky, O. Mandelstam, M. Tsvetaeva, N. Gumilyov, V. Nabokov, B. Livshits and others.


2. Rare books of the Russian avant-garde, including copies with the author's coloring.


3. Small-circulation bibliophile publications.


4. The most significant and rare children's books, including the works of O. Mandelstam, B. Pasternak, D. Kharms and others.


5. Forbidden and destroyed for ideological reasons, books of great cultural significance.


6. Rare interesting editions of the era of the Civil War, the Gulag.


7. Disappeared "in the reader's arms" editions of a number of works by Soviet authors.


8. A number of constructivist publications of the 1920s and 1930s.

Chronological framework

The chronological period of rarities is before the Great Patriotic War. An exception is made only for "the most literary of all our graphics", for editions with amazing illustrations Nikolai Vasilyevich Kuzmin(No. 183-187 M.S.): Gogol N.V. Diary of a Madman(No. 183 M.S.); Leskov N.S. Lefty, ed. 1961(No. 184.1 M.S. - by the way, this is my first book (this particular edition), which I read on my own as a child); Pushkin A.S. Count Nulin(185 M.S.); Pushkin A.S. Eugene Onegin, ed. 1975(No. 186 M.S.); Tynyanov Yu.N. Juvenile Vitushishnikov, ed. 1966(187 M.S.).

Regarding the chosen time period, he clearly expressed his position bibliophile and director of the State Public Historical Library ( gpib ) M.D. Afanasiev:

“The absence of post-war literature here<...>fits perfectly into the situation of today: there is still no cultural distance in relation to the new book, and its formal publication as “bibliophilic” or “rare” (for example, numbered copies) is violence against the bibliophile. When purchasing such a book today, the bibliophile is guided not by the modern value of the book, but takes it, as it were, "for the future." So let future bibliophiles, seeking to find it, include it in their list. I'm afraid that not all of today's "numbered" copies and small circulation books will be included in the future register.

Description of publications

Histories of publications, purely physically, could not fit in one book. Therefore, in addition to bibliographic data and information about auction sales (we will return to them below), there are only short remarks. But you can learn a lot of valuable things from them. For example, I did not know that in 2012, on the anniversary of President V.V. Putin D.A. Medvedev was presented with a publication Benois A.N. Tsarskoye Selo in the reign of Empress Elisaveta Petrovna, R. Golike and A. Vilborg, 1910(No. 47 M.S.). This fact made this deluxe edition even more popular.

Some of the rarities we have already considered with you in the magazine: Khudekov S.N. Dance History, 1918(No. 313 M.S.); Ulyaninsky D.V. Among the books and their friends; 1903(No. 299 M.S.) - the entire work was published; Kutepov N.I. Royal hunting in Russia(No. 189 M.S.); artistic bindings and other mosaic works made by hand in the bookbinding workshop of A. Shnel (No. 326 M.S.) - we considered within the framework research about A.A. Schnel. And of course my favorite catalog of books of antiquarian book trade by Nikolai Vasilievich Solovyov. No. 105, 1910(No. 155 MS) I am sure we will return to the book rarities described by Mikhail Vadimovich more than once.

Information about auction sales

At the beginning of the XX Soloviev N.V. said that the true price of a book could only be determined by auctions. Huge work on the analysis of auction data has been done Larionova Ludmila Gennadievna, a rising star of bibliophile literature (I hope her chic work on P.P. Shibanov will be published soon). Amid fake exits, random price spikes, and other subjective factors, she adequately accounted for the sales of each title described. To estimate the amount of effort: “In 2015, about 60 major auctions took place in Moscow (not counting, say, dealer auctions of antique houses Gelos and Empire). Each of them played 300-500 lots. In total, according to the most approximate average estimates, there are about 25 thousand books.

By the way, indicating prices at the main sellers is a good tradition founded by N.B. Without this enormous work, the work would not have had such a fundamental character.

The book has the necessary reference apparatus: an index of names, titles and a list of references.

Conclusion

I have a shelf, I conditionally call it "Osnova" (I also have all the publications on it in electronic form, so that they are always at hand - on any device), here are Gennadi, Obolyaninov N.A., Senator Smirnov N. P. and many others. But a special place on it will be occupied by the work of Mikhail Vadimovich Seslavinsky “Book Rarities of the 20th Century: 333 Selected Books”, because he is our contemporary and managed to hear our thoughts and feelings, catch the wave. We live with him at the same time, in the era of Russian bibliophilia in the first quarter of the 21st century, and he managed to form our Our desiderata. Thank him for this!!!

P.S. !!! While I was swaying with my first review experience, a program dedicated to this book was released - on January 11, 2017 at 10.15 on the Kultura TV channel, the program "Observer" (project by Fyokla Tolstoy). Guests in the studio: Mikhail Vadimovich Seslavinsky; Director of the State Public Historical Library ( gpib ) Mikhail Dmitrievich Afanasiev; editor-in-chief of the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, chairman of the Union of Journalists of Moscow, bibliophile Pavel Nikolaevich Gusev.

For those who haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it: three great bibliophiles of our time. I give LINK

P.P.S. I will enter a label in my journal for the books listed in this wonderful catalogue.

Copyright aldusku.livejournal.com Circulation 1 piece. Printing house "Tarantas".
N.B.

Russian book rarities

Experience of bibliographic description of rare books indicating their value

Part II

1. 
   Augustine, blessed. An abridged psalter with verses. P... A... Yaroslavl 1785. 4 o.

Rarity.
2. Agafi, A. Fables. Astrakhan. 1814. 4 o.

Rare as printed in the provinces and, moreover, in ancient times.

Shibanov No. 13-10 p. Shibanov No. 35-5 p.
3. Aglaya. 2 parts. M., 1794-1795.

The publisher of this rather rare literary collection was N.M. Karamzin, who placed here, among others, his works. In 1796, Aglaya came out in the second edition, also in two parts. Sopikov No. 5056 and 5057. Gennadi, Dictionary, vol. II. Berezin-Shiryaev, p. 291.

Gauthier No. 5644a (ed. 1st) - 2 p. 50 K. Gauthier No. 5644b. (ed. 2nd) - 2 p. Shibanov No. 37 (composite copy) - 3 p. Shibanov No. 72 (1st and 2nd ed., after) - 3 p.
4. Infernal mail, or correspondence of a crippled demon with a crooked one, for 1769. Published by F. Emin. SPb. 1769.

This very curious magazine, ridiculing various human weaknesses and vices, was published for only seven months (since July 1769). In 1788, this magazine was published in the second edition without division into months under the title "Courier from Hell with Letters. Op. F. Emin. St. Petersburg. 1788". (See Emin, F.). Rarely seen in perfect and clean condition.

Gauthier No. 1525 (incomplete) - 5 p. Gauthier No. 3649 a (6 months) - 15 rubles Gauthier No. 3649b (spec. Def.) - 5 rubles.
5. Akathist to the Intercession of the Most Holy Lady of Our Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary. Ruzaevka, Struyskoe identity, 1796.

The last work of the Ruzaev printing house, which appeared during the life of Struysky. Rare. Guberti, III, No. 172.

6. Alkaran about Mohammed or Turkish law. Translated from French into Russian. Printed by command of the Royal Majesty. SPb. 1716. In sheet.

Translated by I. Postnikov. Copies with a title page are the greatest rarity: there are no such copies in either the Academic or Public Libraries, and our well-known bibliographers Sopikov, Stroev, Pekarsky, Karataev and others have not even seen them. Bibliographic Notes of 1892, No. 1, p. 26-27; Berezin-Shiryaev, Review, p. 2. Sopikov No. 1926.

Klochkov No. 335 - 100 rubles
7. Alphabetical lists of all parts of the capital city of Moscow, houses and lands, as well as stone buildings, indicating in which quarter and on which street or lane they are located. M. 1818. In sheet.

Rare.

Shibanov No. 54-35 p.
8. Ambodik, Nestor Maksimovich. The art of weaving, or the science of womanhood, in six parts. In the city of St. Peter 1784-1786.

With engraved frontispiece, portrait of the author and 33 tables of drawings. According to Sopikov (No. 4671) it is listed as "rare". Valued up to 15 rubles.

9. Amphilochius, archim. Apocalypse of the 14th century corrected according to the Apocalypse corrected and written by St. Metropolitan Alexy, with a painting of St. John the Evangelist from Gr. New Head XII-XIII centuries And 20 paintings of the 17th century. From the obverse Apocalypse of the 18th century. my collection; with the application, when explaining the pictures, of the full text of the Apocalyptic, written by St. Metropolitan Alexy word for word and line for line. M. 1887. 4 o.

With colored drawings. Such copies are among the rarities, since only ten copies were printed.

Paradelov No. 5 - 25 rubles.
10. Aonides, or a collection of various new poems. 3 parts. M. 1796-1799. 12 o.

A rather rare collection published by N.M. Karamzin. Sopikov No. 1996. Berezin-Shiryaev, p. 403. Burtsev No. 50.

Gauthier No. 1254 (2 parts) - 2 p. 50 k. Shibanov No. 72 - 5 p.
11. Apostle. Printed at the Gaga in 1717.

In Church Slavonic. A rarity, since there was an order to destroy it. Bibliographic Notes of 1892 No. 5, p.6.

12. Home and travel pharmacy, revised for doctors, with a complete list of underwear for households and travelers, as well as a table of income and expenses and a regular calendar. Original edition for thieves' reprinting with the seal of my name noticed. Leipzig at K.G.E. Aridta during fairs on the square in a shop close to the upper lantern on the middle main row. 16 o.

Without the year of printing (1816). Rare brochure. Gennady No. 223.

Gauthier No. 1510 - 20 p. Gauthier No. 3647 - 10 p. Shibanov No. 13 - 8 p. Shibanov No. 26 - 3 p. Solovyov No. 1 - 15 p.
13. Pharmacy home and road lekr. Reviews along with a complete list of lingerie and beneficiaries. All-day calendar, original edition. M. Birdy. 16 o.

With 4 writing boards. Thieves' reprint of the first quarter of the 19th century from the previous book. The book was published in Bordichev, slovenly, with a mass of misprints and grammatical errors.

Shibanov No. 13 - 8 p.
14. Arkadiev, E.I. Materials to the index of literature of military bibliography and library science. M. 1892.

Printed in the amount of 25 copies. Bibliographic Notes of 1892 No. 3.

15. Arkhangelsky, A.D. V. Grigorovich and Russian literature of the forties. Regarding the fifty-year activity of D.V. Grigorovich. (Historical information and dates), Kazan. 1894. 16 o.

Printed in 50 copies. Knigovedenie 1896 No. 4, p.160.

16. Babikov, K. From the cradle to the grave. Man and woman.

Great rarity. Valued up to 15 rubles. Burtsev No. 446/11.

17. Balkashin, N.N. About the Kyrgyz and generally about Muslims subject to Russia. SPb. 1887.

Printed in 50 copies. Bibliographer 1887, no. 6, p. 272.

18. Barsky, V.G. Journey through the Holy places, in Europe, Asia and Africa in 1723, 1717 Ed. 2nd. Klintsy 1788. In sheet.

A very rare edition, printed by schismatics and remarkable in that instead of foreign words placed in the St. Petersburg edition, gaps were left, probably due to lack of fonts. Printed in Rukavishnikov's printing house. Bibliographic Zap. 1859, p. 279.

Gauthier No. 531 - 20 p. Paradelov No. 10 - 25 rubles.
19. Bezgin, I.G. Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky expedition to Khiva and the embassies of the fleet of Lieutenant Kozhin and Murza Tevkelev to India to the great Mogul (1714-1717). Bibliographic monograph. SPb. 1891. 16 o.

Printed in a limited number of copies and never sold. Book Science 1894 No. 3, Art. Storozheva, p. 4.

20. Berg, F. Spectacles of the 17th century in Moscow. Feature article. SPb. 1886.

Printed in 50 copies. Bibliographer 1886. No. 12.

21. Berkh, V. Systematic lists of boyars, roundabout and duma nobles from 1468 until the destruction of these ranks. SPb. 1833.

The book is a rarity. Savelov, Pointer, No. 52.

Klochkov No. 207 - 5 p.
22. Bibikov. Notes on the life and service of Alexander Ilyich Bibikov. SPb. 1817.

With an engraved portrait of Bibikov by Utkin. Copies with portraits are rare.

Gauthier No. 26 - 3 p. Klochkov No. 3178 - 2 p. Solovyov No. 7 - 2 p. 50 k. Shibanov No. 43 - 3 p. Shibanov No. 68 - 3 p. Shibanov No. 106 - 3 p.
23. Scientific library: economic, moralizing, historical and entertaining for the benefit and pleasure of every rank of readers. 12 parts. Tobolsk. 1783-1794.

The publisher of this "Library" was P.P. Sumarokov, who previously published The Irtysh Turning into Hippocrene. Sumarokov intended to publish it in one year, one book per month, but the small number of subscribers (only 111) and other reasons prevented this, and the "Library" was issued to subscribers once every two months. Complete copies of the "Library" are very rare. A detailed bibliographic description of this "Library" was published by A.N. Neustroev in St. Petersburg. In 1884, in the amount of 150 copies that did not go on sale. Burtsev No. 106. Bibliographic Notes of 1802 No. 7, Appendix.

Shibanov No. 13 - 75 rubles. Shibanov No. 46 (part I) - 5 p. Gauthier No. 4317a - 65 rubles. Gauthier No. 4317b (broken, each part by) - 3 p. Shibanov No. 63 (8 parts) - 25 p.
24. Bible: printed in St. Petersburg in 1739. To a sheet.

Only 139 sheets were printed (according to the 19th verse of the 15th chapter of the 3rd book of Ezra). Further printing of this so-called "Anninsky" bible was stopped, and the printed sheets were destroyed for their incorrectness. Rare. Sopikov No. 111. Burtsev No. 107. Gennadi No. 10. Report of the Imperial. Public Library for 1867 Undolsky No. 1866.

25. Bilbasov, V. The first political letters of Catherine II. SPb. 1887.

Printed in the amount of 48 copies. Rarity.

Klochkov No. 335 - 15 p.
26. Bibliorum codex sinaiticus petropolitanus. Auspiciis Augustissimis Imperatoris Alexandri II. Ex tenebris protraxit in europam transtulit ad iuvandas atque illustrandas sacras litteras edidit C. Tischendorf. Petropoli MDCCCLXII. In four volumes. To a sheet.

Published by order of Emperor Alexander II in a small number of copies.

Klochkov, Bibliographer 1888, No. 3, p. 159 - 300 rubles.
27. Boalo, G. free translation of the fifth and seventh satire by G. Boalo. Kazan 1813.

Translated from French by A. Solovyov. As printed in the provinces, it is among the very rare brochures.

28. (Bogdanovich, I.F.) Dushin's adventures, a fairy tale in verse. Published by Mi. Ka. Book I. M. 1778.

This is the first, incomplete, edition of the famous Darling. In many ways different from the full edition: The publisher of the book was Count M. Kamensky. Very rare. Sopikov No. 3550. Gennady, p. 84. Book science, 1895 No. 4-5, art. Shchurov (all editions of "Darling" are described here).

29. (Bode-Kolychev, baron). Boyar family of the Kolychevs. M. 1886. 4 about

With genealogical tables. Printed in a limited number of copies not for sale.

Shibanov No. 47 - 20 p.
30. Bolkhovitinov, E.A. (Metropolitan Eugene). Historical, geographical and economic description of the Voronezh province. Voronezh 1800. 4 about

Pretty rare

Gauthier No. 36 - 8 p. Klochkov No. 319 - 10 p. Shibanov No. 63 - 12 p.
31. Bulgakovsky, D. Folk children's holiday in the estate of G.D. Naryshkin, new Zhagory, St. Petersburg. 1897.

This brochure is printed in 50 copies. Burtsev No. 997.

32. Bulygin, V. speech spoken at the solemn meeting of the Imperial Kazan University on January 17, 1822. Kazan 1822.

Printed in 30 copies. Book Science 1894 No. 2, Art. Likhachev.

33. Burachkov, N. General catalog of coins belonging to the Hellenic colonies. Odessa 1884.

With 32 coin tables. Rarity.

34. Burtsev, A. Catalog of Russian rare books collected by amateur A.B. SPb. 1895.

Contains a description of the rarest books in the library of A.A. Burtsev. The book was printed in the amount of 40 copies and did not go on sale. Burtsev No. 1240?8.

35. Burtsev, A. Russian book rarities. Bibliographic list of rare books. SPb.

No publication year. Printed in the amount of 50 copies not for sale. Burtsev No. 1240?7.

36. Burtsev, A. Tales, stories and legends of the peasants of the Northern Territory. SPb. 1897.

Printed on the cover of this book is "Printed in forty copies not for sale."

Klochkov No. 220 - 15 p. Klochkov No. 236 - 20 p.
37. Bykov, P. Bibliography of the works of Alexander Stepanovich Afanasiev-Chuzhbinsky (1838-1875). SPb. 1890.

Printed in a very limited number of copies and was not available for sale.

Klochkov No. 105 - 3 p.
38. Bychkov, F.A. Genealogical book of the family of princes and nobles Bychkov-Rostovsky. SPb. 1880. 4 o.

By the lamp, bending over the catalog,
To delve into the titles of unknown books;
Follow the names; syllable by syllable
Drink the words of a foreign language;
Guess the great in the little;
Recreate poets and centuries
By brief reiterations:
"Without a title", "in morocco" and "rare"...
V. Bryusov (Tercina to the lists of books)

A rare book, book rarity - this short definition evokes somewhat similar associations among book connoisseurs, and at the same time, it can be said with confidence that every bibliophile has his own idea of ​​a book's rarity. This is also confirmed in the publications of collectors of books of the past (G.N. Gennadi (1), N.V. Guberti (2), I.M. Ostroglazov (3), V.A. Vereshchagin (4), D.V. Ulyaninsky (5) and others). THEM. Ostroglazov said: “In compiling my library, I had the opportunity to review more than one thousand books, read more than one hundred antiquarian catalogs, review, in addition to our public libraries, many private libraries compiled with love and knowledge. I think that by this many years of experience, I got the opportunity to form a proper understanding of our book rarities, in addition to even the instructions of former bibliographers ”(3). The author is ready to recognize these words of almost a century ago as his own (you can’t say more precisely!). And on this basis, consider the concept of book rarity from your point of view. But first, let us briefly dwell on the definitions given by Gennadi and Ulyaninsky - the greatest authorities for many lovers of the old book. According to Gennadi, the most important characteristic of the rarity of a book was the reliably known small number of copies of this book. He called such a book "an unconditional rarity." He referred to a “conditional rarity” as a book that is difficult to find: “Actually, any book that is difficult to obtain can be called a rare book” (1). The translation of the concept of rarity only into a quantitative aspect is an undeniable simplification, naturally taken to extremes among the scribes of the so-called "Gennadievsky persuasion", collectors of book curiosities, useless prints, etc. Undoubtedly, Gennadi himself, as a very prominent bibliographer, collector (and lover) of books, a European-educated person, understood “book rarity” more widely (albeit intuitively). But human psychology is such that you can drive yourself into a narrow rut and never get out of it. Perhaps the passion for rare books, which Gennadi described (presumably from himself) - “the collector of such books is pleased with the idea that the book rarity belongs to him, and there are very few, and even no chosen ones like him” (1) , - and influenced the formation of the concept of "rarity"?

D.V. Ulyaninsky said that “in book rarity it is necessary to distinguish: category, class or degree and value. To classify this or that book in a certain category, there are fairly accurate signs that determine the cause of rarity, but there are no general provisions for class and value, and there is no mutual relationship between these factors, so that any rarity is quite, so to speak, individual in its class. and values” (5). The categories of rarity (according to Ulyaninsky) are, in fact, not categories, but the reasons why the book is quantitatively rare (few surviving copies of the book). The degree (class) of the rarity of a book was defined by Ulyaninsky as follows: “I personally find the definitions very convenient: rare, very rare, rarest, but not to characterize or divide the rarity into such groups, but as an independent sign of the degree or class of rarity” (5). Thus, the degree (class) of rarity, according to Ulyaninsky, is simply a quantitative assessment (on a three-point scale) of the “occurrence” of a book (based on an estimate of the number of existing copies). With the introduction of the concept of “book value”, Ulyaninsky significantly complements the portrait of book rarity. Here is what he put into this concept: “Speaking of the value of antique books, it must be borne in mind that when setting the price, the safety of the copy and its virgin appearance play a huge role ... In the same way, the former belonging of the copy being sold to some famous person increases the price , with his exlibris, or especially with his own handwritten notes, whereby copies of the most ordinary books turn into valuable rarities, as well as copies with autographs of famous authors or publishers "" (5). D.V. Ulyaninsky, in addition to the above definition of book rarity, also outlined a privileged circle of books, which are recognized for the right to fall into “book rarities”, in his words: “... our bibliophile practice does not recognize even among books that exist in a small number of copies, for rarity all essays on mathematics and the applied sciences, technology, medicine and natural sciences included in its cycle. Bibliophiles usually look for their rarities among works that are not of a professional-special nature, but that treat issues of general interest: philosophical and theological, historical, geographical, legal, literary and artistic” (5).

In some ways, maybe the venerable bibliographer is right, but he is somehow averaged. After all, there are books and books! His statement is completely inapplicable, for example, to the publications of the time of Peter the Great, most of which are precisely “in terms of mathematics ...”; what bibliophile would not recognize as a rarity, and the greatest, "The Geometry of Slavonic Land Surveying ..." of 1708 ... Little was written about a rare book in Soviet times (there probably are reasons for this). No catalogs of the rare book were published at all.

In the essay "About a rare book" A.I. Malein wrote: “A book that exists in an absolutely small number of copies and has scientific value can be recognized as rare” (6). With this definition, N.Yu. Ulyaninsky, defending only a quantitative (“Gennadievsky”) approach: “The direct meaning of the word rare is the opposite of the word frequent. Thus, the word rare contains a sign of quantity. The introduction here of a sign of value is already a narrowing particularity, which makes it possible to separate from the category of objects rare in number those objects suitable for a given time or for a given purpose. A sign of rarity is an objective concept, always unchanged and stable, while a sign of suitability and value is an unstable, subjective concept and, therefore, of a temporary nature” (7). As you can see, nothing has been added to what Gennadi and Ulyaninsky said. Nothing added to this and A.I. Markushevich in the "Almanac of the bibliophile" for 1973 in the article "On book rarities" (8). In the light of the foregoing, it is clear that it is not easy to define the term "rare book". But it seems that a new attempt at such a definition is not useless if it provides some semblance of a tool for understanding book rarity.

First of all, it is obvious that the concept of a “rare book” (in the broad sense) is not a “one-dimensional” concept, that is, all books that, from the point of view of a bibliophile, can be classified as rarities cannot be lined up in one line according to the degree of rarity, where on its right flank there will be the most rare, and on the left - less. The concept of "book rarity" has long outgrown its root (as a quantitative one), and if it is close to it, then only in terms of "consumer rarity", that is, in terms of how difficult it is to transfer a specific "rarity" from the category of desiderata to the category of those available in this collection .

What properties (signs) are inherent in the generalized "book rarity"?

Dialectically, they should fall into two opposite classes: the class of general book signs, that is, signs of the publication (class "K"), and the class of individual (unique) signs (class "I"); moreover, in each book both classes are represented - such is the dialectic. We single out within each specified class, if possible, signs that are independent of each other.

Class "K" Class "I"

1. Cultural significance 1. Preservation of the copy

2. Actual rarity 2. Item features

3. Functionality 3. Binding characteristics

4. Aesthetics

5. Graphic Significance

6. Collectible value

cultural significance. The highest rank on this basis should obviously be in monument books. For Russian books, these are primarily Slavic early printed publications (XV-XVI centuries), all publications of the time of Peter the Great (the first books of civil printing), then milestone books, such as N.I. Novikov in 1772 (9), which gave a starting point to all subsequent dictionaries of Russian writers and historians of Russian literature, or "The History of the Russian State" by N.M. Karamzin 1816-1818 - a publication listed in the golden tablets of our culture. This should also include lifetime editions of the classics of Russian literature. A vivid illustration of the assessment of the latter can be the statement of a remarkable connoisseur of Russian culture, V. V. Rozanov, about Pushkin's publications, about Pushkin's "reading": "You need to listen to the voice in reading. Therefore, not every “reader of Pushkin” has anything in common with Pushkin, but only someone who listens to the voice of the speaking Pushkin, guessing the intonation that the living one had. Whoever “does not listen to the living Pushkin” in the turning pages, as if he does not read it anyway, but reads someone instead of him, equalizing with him, “of the same education and talent as he, and writing on the same topics”, - but not himself. Hence the "academic" publications of Pushkin, littered with a mountain of "notes", and Vengerov (10) - still lurid paintings and every scholarly bazaar, are so alien and deaf. It was as if rubbish had been poured onto Pushkin from a box: and he was all dusty, weedy, cluttered. Disappeared - in the very form and external form of the publication - the main feature of his image and soul: amazing brevity in everything and simplicity. And of course, the best editions, and even the only ones that you can hold in your hand without disgust, are his old editions, on thick paper, each poem from a new page - ed. Zhukovsky (11). Or - individual poems published during his lifetime. Or - his poems and dramatic passages in "Northern Flowers". I have "Boris Godunov" of 1831, and 2 books of "Northern Flowers" with Pushkin; and - Zhukovsky's edition. In 30 years, these publications will be valued as gold, and the masters will absolutely repeat (of course, without modern censorship cuts) paper, fonts, arrangement of works, spelling, format and bindings.

In such a publication, we can achieve, as it were, a hearing of Pushkin ... "(12)

The actual rarity of the edition is a sign of the small number of existing copies of this book. Actually rare:

1) old books; for Russian books of the civil press, these are all books published in the 18th century and partly in the 19th century (at least until the 1930s). It is hardly worth explaining all the reasons for their rarity, but the upheavals of the 20th century had a detrimental effect on almost the entire pre-revolutionary book fund (to a lesser extent on the publications of the classics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries); the books of the eighteenth century, most of which were rare at the end of the nineteenth century, are undoubtedly still more rare at the end of our twentieth century;

2) books about which there is documentary evidence of the destruction of most of the circulation of the publication due to government regulations, natural disasters, the whim of the author, etc.;

3) books printed in a small number of copies: these include those whose (official) publication did not take place for any reason and only a few test copies survived, as well as books printed in a small number with distinctive features in relation to ordinary book of this edition (another

paper, increased number of illustrations or appendices, type or color of illustrations, etc.).

Functionality. Functionality means the preservation of the "consumer" meaning of the book, that is, its ability to serve the original purpose - scientific, aesthetic, reference, etc., and this meaning can be preserved in the presence of other editions of this book; the latter undoubtedly refers to lifetime editions of the classics, as well as to editions that have the status of "almost a manuscript", that is, a primary source. Such, for example, are “History” by V.N. Tatishchev (13), in which later lost chronicles are extensively cited; "The Tale of Igor's Campaign" of 1800 (14), the manuscript of which has been lost, the "Beketov" edition of G. Fonvizin's works of 1830 (15), since most of the author's manuscripts held by P. Beketov perished.

Aesthetics. Aesthetics is understood as a characteristic of publishing design, which gives the book the status of a work of book art. Book masterpieces are created using a wonderful combination of great type, paper, graphics, binding.

Graphic significance is an independent feature of illustrated publications - the presence in the book of engravings or lithographs of something famous (by the name of the artist, engraver, or by the areas or objects depicted). In this case, the "weight" of the value (and rarity) of the book increases insofar as the circle of contenders for this publication goes beyond the circle of book collectors. Many prints (engravings, lithographs) from these publications and the publications themselves end up in fine art collections (engravings, lithographs, thematic museums, etc.).

Collectible value as a sign is typical for publications that are united by some common sign for a number of books, which is of particular attraction to the collector-collector. A striking example of such a feature is the miniaturization of the publication. This feature alone makes the book desirable (almost regardless of content) for a considerable number of fans of the "small form". Other examples: the book's belonging to the "alds" or "elzevirs", to the Russian editions of the time of Peter the Great (1682-1725), Anna Ioannovna (1730-1740), Elizaveta Petrovna (1741-1761), etc.

Preservation ("virginity") of the specimen as a sign requires less explanation than others. When describing, ranking a copy of a book on this basis, they usually indicate the degree of preservation (“virginity”) relative to an ideal copy of ideal preservation. A four-point system is often used to assess preservation - excellent, good, satisfactory, and poor preservation. The same sign takes into account the completeness of the copy, that is, the presence in the copy of all elements of the publication, fixed bibliographically after the publication of the book (all pages, illustrations, etc.).

Features of an instance are the distinctive signs inherent in this instance that make it unique. These are mainly: the presence of autographs of famous people, remarkable owner marks, or data on the belonging of the book to a well-known library, the presence of illustrations colored by hand by their author (in the absence of such coloring in other copies), etc.

Binding characteristics. If a copy of the publication is bound in an artistic, wonderful binding, then this should be reflected as its individual feature. Book bindings made by famous bookbinding artists are one of the most important attributes of the uniqueness of copies (by the way, they are collectibles themselves). First of all, these are bindings made by French masters (who have always set the tone in bookbinding), often made of Moroccan morocco (“Morokena”). The famous St. Petersburg bookbinders of the second half of the 19th century can also be attributed to the French school of binding: Peterson, Ro, Schnell.

So, what can be said about the possibility of a quantitative (comparative) assessment of "rarity"? First of all, each of the six indicated features of the publication can be assessed by an expert (in a point scale). Further, based on these estimates and "weighting" (also expertly) each of the six features, you can create a generalized assessment of "rarity" using the methods of the so-called multidimensional scaling. The most "subtle" at the same time - expert assessments. Undoubtedly, such work on assessing the rarity of books is the lot of clubs of connoisseurs of antiquarian books, bibliophiles. Here is how the well-known bibliophile V. Voinov describes the exhibition of Russian and foreign books, organized by the Circle of Lovers of Russian Fine Editions in 1914: Romaen de Hooge, published during the life of the author; secondly, on "Mercure Galant" 1693 ... - remarkable for its binding with the coat of arms of Louis de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse, and, thirdly, on "Ecole des amants ou l, art de bien aimer" 1700 .- a copy that belonged to the Marquise Pompadour and has her coat of arms on the cover ... Another large and remarkable section of the exhibition is Russian books of the 18th and 19th centuries. There are the rarest copies here, to which, first of all, should be attributed the publications of the time of Peter the Great: "Arithmetic" by Magnitsky (1703) and "Theatron or Historical Shame" (1721) and the reign of Elizabeth: "The Chambers of the St. Petersburg Imperial Academy of Sciences, libraries and cabinets of curiosities" 1741, in sheet, ...; the copy belonged to Count K.G. Razumovsky, but, as can be seen from the inscription, he got to second-hand booksellers in Paris, where he was bought by someone in 1814; the book is decorated with a magnificent red morocco binding with the monogram of Empress Elizabeth on the front side and a double-headed eagle on the back (the binding is similar to the publisher's binding of The Coronation of Elizabeth in 1744). Of great rarity are, for example, books such as V. Kapnist's Yabeda, a publication dedicated to Emperor Paul I: it was confiscated and destroyed in the amount of 1211 copies ..., - or Krylov's Fables, ed. 1843; on a sheet pasted into this book is printed: “Fables of I.A. Krylov. Offering in memory of Ivan Andreevich. At his will. SPb., 1844, November 9, 3/4 8 am”; this copy is from among those distributed at the will of the author to persons present at his funeral” (16).

Let's try to describe, in accordance with the above principles for determining "book rarity", two editions of the 18th century:

Tumansky F.O. A complete description of the acts of E. V. Sovereign Emperor Peter the Great. Composed by Feodor Tumansky. In the city of St. Petra: Shnor's Book Printing, 1788. Part 1. LVI, , 282, pp.: ill.; 11 l. ill. Engraved title page, 11 engravings on separate sheets (10 portraits), engraved vignettes (6) in text. This book (only the first part came out) is a generally recognized rarity. Gennadi wrote about her: “While publishing the Notes on Peter I, Tumansky also wanted to extract from them the history of his reign, but this enterprise was limited to the first volume. I judge the rarity of this book because I have been looking for it for a long time and with difficulty found a complete copy with all the portraits (for 15 rubles) ”(1).

Consider the features of this edition. 1) The cultural significance of this book is not high, that is, it is not a "landmark" or "monument" in the sense described above. 2) Actual rarity. According to bibliographic data, the book is rare as an “old” edition, a rough estimate of the number of existing complete copies (including in libraries and museums) has not been made, but with a high probability of a correct estimate, this number does not exceed 30-50 copies. 3) The functional significance of the book is not high due to the presence of many works on Peter I and the period of his reign. But at the same time, for studying the state of the cultural atmosphere of the late 18th century, for assessing the historical knowledge of the 18th century, the book is interesting. 4) The aesthetics of the book for the end of the 18th century (in Russia) is high; it is printed on fine, high-density, white laid paper, in excellent, easy-to-read and beautiful type, with six well-executed engraved plot vignettes in the text. 5) The graphic significance of the book is extremely high. It contains 10 engraved portraits of historical persons on separate sheets. 6) The collection value of the book is also high. She is included in the circle of collecting Russian illustrated editions, books about Peter I, Russian iconography and, of course, among the “documented rarities”, which (alas) are the subject of collection for this quality alone.

Novikov N.I. The experience of a historical dictionary about Russian writers: Nikolai Novikov collected from various printed and handwritten books, reported news and verbal traditions. SPb.: [type. Acad. Sciences]. 1772., 264 pp.

1) The cultural significance of the book is very high. The book is a "landmark" in the Russian history of literature, the first dictionary of writers, which contains information about more than 300 Russian writers. 2) The actual rarity of the book, documented and bibliographically confirmed, has long been known. The book was printed in the amount of 606 copies, of which it is unlikely that more than 150 have been preserved in full form at the present time. 3) The functional significance of the book is high. The Dictionary was reprinted three times: in 1867 (600 copies), in 1951 and in 1987 (facsimile). 4) Aesthetics. Novikov's "Dictionary" is not a monument of book art, although the book was "worked" well for its time. 5) The book has no graphic meaning. 6) The book is of collector value for collections of bibliography of Russian literature, biographical collections, collections of the so-called "Novikov" editions, as well as collections of "rarities". A detailed analysis and synthesis in the process of assessing the degree of "rarity" seems worthy of attention and, probably, useful in the formation of the structure of such a complex concept as "book rarity". Does the value of specific book rarities change over time? Undoubtedly. If any sign of the publication changes, then the assessment changes in one direction or another. Although rare books become even rarer over time, the demand for them may decrease. This happens when the signs of functionality and collectibility change. So, in the last century and at the beginning of the present, there were many bibliophiles-collectors of mystical (Masonic) literature of the 18th - early 19th centuries. And in our “rationalistic” time there are few collectors of this literature. Due to such reasons, on the shelves of antique shops you can find famous book rarities that have been waiting for their buyer for a long time. A persistent interest (on the basis of functionality) remains in antiquarian books on the history of cities and localities, in literature on the history and ethnography of various peoples of Russia, and descriptions of travels. Let's take a look at one of those books.

[Chulkov M.D.] Dictionary of Russian superstitions. SPb., type. Shnor. 1782. , 271, p. 8°. Great rarity.

Here is what A.N. wrote about this Dictionary. Pypin: "This book is remarkable as the first purely ethnographic attempt of its time" (17). It is quite natural that the cultural significance of M.D. Chulkov as the first ethnographic publication is unshakable and high. But this book has not lost its direct functional significance even today. Mikhail Dmitrievich Chulkov (c. 1742-1793) - a remarkable writer of the 18th century, author of many works on ethnography, on the history of Russian trade and commerce, fiction, including the rarest novel "The Handy Cook" (St. Petersburg, 1770), publisher satirical magazines Both That and Sio (St. Petersburg, 1769) and Parnassus Scribbler (St. Petersburg, 1770). All editions of M.D. Chulkov are first-class, hard-to-find rarities. The “Dictionary of Russian Superstitions” was republished four years later under the title “Abevega of Russian Superstitions, Idol-worshipping Sacrifice, Popular Wedding Rites, Witchcraft, Shamanism, etc., Composed by M. Ch.” (M., 1786). This book is also very rare. In the "Dictionary" various articles are arranged alphabetically, for example: "Agrafenin's Day", "Adam's Head", "Dazhbog", "Brownie", "The Sun Plays", etc. The most informative and significant in terms of volume are the following articles: “Marriage” (description of wedding ceremonies among different peoples of Russia), “Vera” (about the religious cults of “Kamchadals”, “Kalmyks”, “Cheremis”, “Votiaks”, “Lapps”), “Sin Cleansing” (rites of purification among different peoples), “History” (excerpts from “superstitious stories” from the Nikon Chronicle), “Graves” (about funeral rites), “Motherland” (rites during childbirth). When analyzing the concept of “book rarity”, one cannot avoid the question of the value of book rarity in the direct, i.e., value sense. What should be the price of a rare book? World practice has long answered this question. The price of "rarity" cannot be set, you can only approximately estimate its lower limit. The auction practice is the most important in evaluating rare books today. But, unfortunately, the statement of a great connoisseur of rare books, the publisher of the Russian Bibliophile N.V. Solovieva: “In general, the prices for books on the current (Russian) antiques market are completely arbitrary and are created solely under the influence of the appetites of the bookseller or the degree of enthusiasm of the buyer. The absence of book auctions now takes away any possibility of at least some conditional taxation of a rare book. Complaints about the disproportionate and unfair increase in the price of random books in recent years are entirely justified” (18). In our time, there is another obstacle to an objective peer review of book rarities. This is a completely unjustified inclusion of rare books in catalogs-price lists (19). How can one value single (and even unique) copies on a par with mass publications?! What are the evaluation criteria? So, for example, a lot of Petrovsky editions are included in the catalog-price list on the General History! Some of them are known only in single copies. For example, Pekarsky the book “A Brief Description of the Wars, from the Books of the Caesarievs ...” (M., 1711) was known in 4 copies, and the book “The Story of the Devastation of the Last Holy City of Jerusalem ...” (M., 1713) - in duplicate (20). And there are many such examples. What serves as a "reference point" in pricing these unique titles, along with valuing fairly "ordinary" books? Truly, this is the power of incompetence! There is nothing easier than to rewrite the catalog of the best book depository in the country and blindly evaluate it at random! The catalogs-price lists include many wonderful book rarities that require a purely individual assessment. These are the “Experience of the Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers” (St. Petersburg, 1772) N.I. Novikov, Dictionary of Russian Superstitions (St. Petersburg, 1782) M.D. Chulkova, “Description of the land of Kamchatka ...” (St. Petersburg, 1755) S.P. Krasheninnikov and others. And the prices set for them are not for price lists! It is necessary to reconsider the practice of compiling such "catalogs-price lists". Without experts - connoisseurs of the Russian book, such "catalogs" cannot be compiled, and the existing inconsistencies in the assessment in the catalogs should be corrected, since the practical application of such "price list catalogs" to a rare Russian book discredits and disorientates the entire domestic book trade. The 18th century in Russian history is rich in events, and its significance is especially in the development of Russian culture. Since the beginning of the 18th century, since the introduction of the civil type by Peter I, the history of the Russian printed book has also been counting down. Therefore, according to tradition, in the bibliography of books of the civil press of the 18th century, books published in the time of Peter the Great are singled out in a special section, they are a kind of “incunabula” of the civil press. At present, they are all very rare, and in terms of "cultural significance" (in terms of the above), their position is unshakably high. The well-known bibliographer and collector of books of the time of Peter the Great, A. V. Petrov, said this about these books: “Few books survived from the time of Peter: how many of them decayed in cellars flooded during floods, how many generations of rats grew up, fed on printed paper, so valued by nimble quadrupeds gastronomes, how many books are tattered, destroyed, sold to paper mills, burned in fires. .. These books are also interesting in content, but, as Mr. V. Rozanov shrewdly remarked about Lomonosov's publications, they should not only be read, but also kissed” (21). Books of the 18th century rightfully stand out in the history of Russian literature. They, like milestones, marked the path traversed by domestic pioneers in science and literature. The book of the 18th century reflects the growth of intellectual potential, which eventually became the basis of the brilliant achievements of our culture in the 19th century. But the further the “eighteenth” century leaves us, our knowledge about it becomes more and more simplified, becomes “secondary”; and the original ones, from books of contemporaries, are more and more difficult to access. Undoubtedly, good bibliographic editions of the book of the 18th century are needed, as guides in an unfamiliar area, works similar to those published by Guberti (2). If there are no new, fundamental works on the book of the 18th century, then, of course, it is necessary to reprint the old ones, especially since for the most part old bibliographic books are "bibliographic rarities." The task of a bibliographic guide-reference book on a rare book of the 18th century is largely performed by the book compiled by Yu. Bitovt: “Rare Russian Books and Volatile Editions of the 18th Century”, which contains information about rare books based on the works of famous Russian bibliographers and collectors: G. N. Gennadi, N.V. Guberti, I.M. Ostroglazova, V.A. Vereshchagin, D.V. Ulyaninsky and others, as well as printed bookseller catalogs of famous second-hand antique dealers.

Yuri Yulianovich Bitovt was not a great connoisseur of rare books, he did not even have a collection of books, but he was a hardworking bibliographer-compiler, compiled an extensive card index of various bibliographies and published a number of bibliographic indexes, the range of application of which is surprising: here and "Count L. Tolstoy in Literature and Art” (M., 1903), and “The Book of Books. Explanatory index of books for self-education in all branches of knowledge” (M., 1907). His main work was the compilation of the "Russian Bibliography" - a consolidated catalog of books published in Russia since 1708. The first two volumes (unpublished) were completed and the material for the next two volumes was prepared, and the entire edition was to consist of 15-20 volumes. Yuri Yulianovich Bitovt is an outstanding bibliographer, an active member of the Moscow Bibliographic Circle at Moscow University. It was he who was among those bibliographers who attached great importance to the development of a unified methodology for bibliographic description, and one of the first in practice began to approach the compilation of bibliographic descriptions from scientific positions, turning this industry from an area of ​​amateurism and passion into a special scientific discipline. Yu. Bitovt described the famous library of the merchant and outstanding collector Konstantin Makarovich Solovyov, compiled practical guides for the bibliographic description of books. Yu. Bitovt's catalog "Rare Russian Books and Volatile Editions of the 18th Century" is one of the fundamental reference books on Russian bibliography published before the revolution. He enjoys unfailing prestige among bibliophiles and collectors and well-deserved respect among professional bibliographers. Significantly inferior to the “Consolidated Catalog of Russian Books of the 18th Century” in terms of completeness and methodology of bibliographic description, the book contains a colossal amount of valuable practical information based on knowledge of the Russian antiquarian book market of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The catalog allows you to assess the degree of rarity of the books presented in it, gives information about the stores that sold certain rarities, and allows you to get an idea of ​​​​the prices for them. It was Yu. Bitovt who approached the establishment of the rarity of a particular book, based on a clear criterion of its occurrence on sale and its presence in the largest collections. Among the pre-revolutionary bibliographic publications devoted to the Russian civil book of the 18th century, Yu. Bitovt's catalog was the most complete (it included more than 3,000 descriptions of book rarities) and valuable from a scientific point of view. Like all publications on bibliography, Yu. Bitovt's book was published in a small edition and soon ceased to appear in free sale. The last printed bibliographic work of Bitovt is "Catalogue of the Library of Konstantin Solovyov" (M., 1914), published in the amount of 50 copies. (25 - tray and 25 - 50 rubles each). This edition of D.V. Ulyaninsky noted with a sharply critical review (22), where he stated that “any sensible bibliophile, having familiarized himself with this work of Mr. Bitovt, notorious for his pretentious bibliographic speeches, is unlikely to agree to pay even a tenth for it.” In the review, Ulyaninsky rightly reproached Bitovt for his ignorance of obvious bibliographic information (in particular, on the example of A. N. Radishchev’s Travels from St. Petersburg to Moscow) and summarized the remarks very sharply: “If this really remained unknown to Mr. is he a bibliographer then? And if he deliberately kept silent about it, then even worse. Yu.Yu. Bitovt, of course, can be considered a bibliographer, but he was not a bibliophile, he was not an expert on the book. Bitovt was a bibliographer for the sake of bibliography. This naturally puts him in complete dependence on authorities (sources of information) and does not allow him to have his own point of view on the subject of the description (at least, the correct one). This conclusion is also confirmed in his “Rare Russian Books of the 18th Century”: as soon as something “from the author” appears in the description of any book, it is immediately out of place. For example: S. 53, No. 257-261, “The book of the charter of the sea ...” (St. Petersburg, 1720). This book is believed to have been written by Peter I. Several types of this edition are known with different output data (page numbering, number of appendices). These copies are described in detail in the bibliographies of books of the time of Peter the Great. But this does not at all follow the conclusion that Bitovt made: “This first edition of the Naval Charter was obviously printed in a huge number of copies and now comes across quite often.” Just the opposite, all editions of the "Charter" are extremely rare. And the first - in particular. In the famous library of A.V. Petrov, in the collection of books of the time of Peter the Great, there was only one copy of the "Charter", although it is known that A.V. Petrov kept doublets whenever possible (all the more different according to output data). And the price of P. Shibanov (15 rubles) is not for a "frequent" book. But, be that as it may, there is no better guide and, obviously, will not be in the near future. To this day, the words of V.A. Vereshchagin: “... any bibliographic research, which generally requires an enormous expenditure of labor and time, is also associated with quite peculiar difficulties. The fact is that, thanks to the exceptional poverty of bibliographic journals and works, the absence of detailed catalogs and book auctions, the almost complete ignorance of our second-hand booksellers ... and the lack of amateurs ... the acquisition of the most insignificant materials always entails significant, and sometimes completely vain loss of time" (4). In the book of Bytovt, the main bibliographic sources of the used information about the rare book are indicated, references are given for each position. After 1905 (the time of the publication of Bytovt's book), a number of bibliographic works appeared, which can serve as a source of additional information on the book of the 18th century. These are the "Consolidated catalog of the Russian book of the civil press of the XVIII century, 1725-1800" (M., 1962-1967. Vol. 1-5), "Materials for the bibliography of Russian illustrated publications" (St. Petersburg, 1908-1910. Issue 1- 4), N.A. Obolyaninov "Catalogue of Russian illustrated publications (1725-1860)" (M., 1914-1915. Vol. 1-2), A.V. Petrov “Library of A.V. Petrov. Collection of books published during the reign of Peter the Great” (St. Petersburg. 1913), “Library of D.V. Ulyaninsky. Bibliographic description ”(M., 1912-1915. Vol. 1-3), N.P. Smirnov-Sokolsky “My library. Bibliographic description” (M., 1969. Vol. 1-2).

NOTES:

1. Gennadi G.N. Russian book rarities: Bibliographic list of Russian rare books. St. Petersburg, 1872

2. Guberti N.V. Materials for Russian bibliography: Chronology, a review of rare and remarkable Russian books of the 18th century printed in Russia in civil type. 1725-1800. M., About the history and antiquities of Russia at Moscow University, 1878-1891. Issue. 1-3.

3. Ostroglazov I.M. Book rarities I.M. Ostroglazov. (From the Russian Archive, 1892). Moscow, in the University type, 1892.

4. Vereshchagin V.A. Russian illustrated editions of the 18th and 19th centuries (1720-1870). bibliographic experience. SPb., type. V. Kirshbaum. 1898.

5. Ulyaninsky D.V. Among the books and their friends. Moscow, M. Ya. Paradelov, 1903. Part 1.

6. Malein A.I., Fleer M.G. About a rare book. Moscow-Pg., GIZ, 1923, p. 26

7. Ulyaninsky N.Yu. About Bibliophilia: (Facts and Thoughts), "Almanac of the Bibliophile". Leningrad, 1929, p. 20.

8. Markushevich A.I. About book rarities, "Almanac of the Bibliophile". Moscow, 1973.

9. Novikov N.I. Experience of the historical dictionary about Russian writers. SPb., 1772.

10. Pushkin A.S. Collected works. St. Petersburg, Brockhaus-Efron, 1907-1915. V.1-6 (B-ka great writers. Edited by S.A. Vengerov).

11. Pushkin A.S. Works of Alexander Pushkin. St. Petersburg, 1838-1841. T. 1-11.

12. Rozanov V.V. Fallen leaves. Box first. Spb.. 1913.

13. Tatishchev V.N. Russian history since the most ancient times. St. Petersburg, 1768-1784. Book. 1-4, M., 1848. Book. 5.

14. Iroic song about the campaign against the Polovtsy of the specific prince of Novgorod-Seversky Igor Svyatoslavich. M., Senate type., 1800.

15. Fonvizin D.I. Full composition of writings. M., 1830. Ch. 1-4.

16. Warriors Sun. Exhibition "Russian and foreign book". Old years. 1914. No. 4, pp. 37-43.

17. Pypin A.N. History of Russian ethnography. SPb., 1890. Vol. 1, p. 69.

18. Soloviev N.V. Price of books and book trade. Old years. 1908. No. 1.

19. Scientific and reference literature is an art. Catalog-price list for the purchase and sale of used and antique books. M., 1977. Fiction. Catalog-price list for the purchase and sale of used and antique books. M., 1977. General history. Catalog-price list of a second-hand book. M., 1978-1981. Ch.1-2.

20. Pekarsky P.P. Science and literature in Russia under Peter the Great. SPb., 1862. Vol. 1-2.

21. Petrov A.V. Library of A.V. Petrov. Collection of books published in the reign of Peter the Great. Russian bibliophile. 1914. No. 2, pp. 32-34.

22. Ulyaninsky D.V. Catalog of the library of Konstantin Makarovich Solovyov. "Bibliographic News" 1914. No. 1-2.