The Materials for Reconstruction of the Private Library of Academician A.E. Chichibabin

Abstract

Libraries of Russian scientific institutions keep private book collections of the outstanding scientists. They are valuable objects of cultural and historical research, while maintaining some of their informational importance. The article describes the collection of A.E. Chichibabin, the famous chemist and academician. It was discovered in the library of the N.D. Zelinsky Institute of Organic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Science. The collection was given to the library after the scientist’s departure from the country and was depersonalized because the owner had been deprived of his academic ranks and USSR citizenship. The initial stage of the collection’s reconstruction has been carried out using the survived copies with the owner’s marks and the lists of received books. All identified publications have a personal signature of the scientist or traces of its earlier presence; a number of copies contain endowment inscriptions, proprietary notes and bookstore marks. The qualitative analysis shows that the publications’ subject matter refers to various areas of chemical science, representing the owner’s direct professional interest. The collection is fairly wide in chronological coverage, diverse in type of publications (monographs, periodicals and reference publications, university proceedings, dictionaries, practical manuals, etc.) and multilingual. Its high scientific level is evidenced by the presence of works of many outstanding Russian and foreign chemists, Nobel laureates of the early 20th century. The bibliophilic nature of the collection is emphasized by the presence of books of the 18th and early 19th centuries, reflecting the main periods of science development. Further study of the publications from the personal library of academician A.E. Chichibabin will add new touches to the scientist’s biography, the history of formation of his scientific school and help to trace his scientific and personal ties with colleagues from Russia and other countries.