The Ex-Libris of Pastor Gottlieb Beratz: From the History of Book Heritage of the Germans in the Volga Region

Abstract

The article considers the ex-libris of Gottlieb Beratz, the priest of the German settlement in the Volga region (late 19th — early 20th century), presented in the rare small-format edition of Marco Polo’s book “Travels” published in the first third of the 19th century. The study of bookplates in rare editions is important as an additional source for the analysis of history of a book, the author’s biography and the history of bibliophilic collections or a specific copy of a book. Presented for the first time detailed description of the ex-libris of G. Beratz, being a contribution of the study of Russian bookplates, may help in the search for the book collection of scientific interest, based on the presented edition available in the LNS RAS and considering the personality of the owner. In this regard, the author examined the stamps on the Marco Polo’s book, which indicated the movement of the book from G. Beratz’s library to Saratov institutions, and then to Moscow. The author describes in general terms the technique of ex-libris of G. Beratz, technological process of phototype and zincography. The article suggests that ex-libris was made in the typolithographic printing of G.Kh. Shelgorn, where G. Beratz published his works. The owner of the book collection, which included Marco Polo’s “Travels”, was not only a priest of the German parish in the Volga region, but also a writer, playwright and scientist, well known in the circles of historians. He was the author of scientific work about the migration of Germans to the Volga region, published not only in Russia but also in Germany. The article briefly describes the history of creation of the book by Marco Polo with reference to the biographical details of the traveller, as well as the main periods of the biography of the Pastor G. Beratz, owner of a large bibliophilic collection.