Presentational Copy of the Little-Known Edition of Petrine Age

Abstract

The archival collection 17 of the Russian State Archives of Ancient Documents (RGADA) contains the only copy in Russia of a rare Petrine age edition. It is the panegyrical poem printed on silk in Hamburg in 1715 by order of Russian resident J.F. Böttiger. The poem is devoted to the two events of the end of 1715: namely, the births of the Tsar’s grandson Petr Alexeevich (the future Peter II) and the younger son Petr Petrovich. The anonymous author’s rejoicing is accompanied by praise of the infants’ mothers and especially the Tsarina Catherine I. Both the contents and the physical execution of the copy provide reasons to classify it as presentational copy intended for the Tsar or member of his family.Earlier, only one copy of the edition was known. It is kept in the Duke Augustus Library in Wolfenbüttel and has been briefly described by M.I. Fundaminski in his review article on Böttiger’s publishing activities. In this article, the author provides a detailed description of the RGADA’s copy, as well as the analysis of its textual content and the circumstances of its creation. The author makes conclusions about Böttiger’s private initiative to publish the panegyric and the reasons for destroying the most part of the print run (which probably included copies on plain paper). The appendix to the article contains the text of the poem.