Study of Handwritten Albums in the National Science in the 19th — Early 21st Century

Abstract

The article considers bibliography of study of Russian albums of the 19th — early 21th century. Development of Russian historiography of this topic was uneven. The author consistently describes three main stages in the study of handwritten album: response of contemporaries and public discussions of this phenomenon; the beginning of publication of album texts; introduction of albums to science. The article presents the main directions of academic research. The author considers domestic publications about Russian albums, starting from the first quarter of the 19th century through the beginning of the 21st century. The analysis of the literature on albums was carried out from the point of view of the author’s area of interests (study of the history of autograph albums, their typology and functions), the nature and scope of the objects studied, the main tasks of these works and their methodological principles. The main problem in historiography is development of typology of handwritten albums. The choice of typology as the main subject of analysis is explained by the fact that in general this phenomenon of Russian culture of the late 18th — first quarter of the 20th century was not studied systematically. The author notes that in order to create the full picture of Russian album culture, it is necessary, first of all, to build the typological system. The result of the author’s research is the complete review of publications on Russian handwritten albums published from 1820 to 2016. The author highlights the main typological principles of albums that are typical for different approaches, research schools and directions of study. The article notes that many issues have not been considered until the present moment. The approach to album as a source of history of individual writing and sociocultural behaviour is beyond the study, while the comprehensive analysis of Russian album, writing and signature in it is one of the promising directions of research of the culture of everyday life of the 18th — 20th centuries. The general conclusion of the article focuses on the absence of universal typology in historiography, which the author suggests to present in the following works.