Imperial House Research Articles

Pavel Petrovich Shibanov as a Supplier of Books for the Libraries of the Imperial Family (Late 19th — Early 20th Century)

On the basis of letters from the collection No. 342 of the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library (RSL) the co-operation of the famous Russian antiquarian book dealer of the late 19th — early 20th century P.P. Shibanov with the members of the House of Romanov in the field of formation of their personal libraries is studied. The study was carried out with the aim of obtaining reliable information about the editions offered to complete the personal libraries of the Imperial House. On the basis of previously unexplored sources the assortment of P.P. Shibanov’s booksellers, presented for purchase to the members of the Imperial Family, is revealed. The letters from the Shibanov collection of the RSL were received by the bookseller from high-ranking officials of the courts of the grand dukes and grand duchesses, and in some cases directly from members of the dynasty. The material gives an idea of the spheres of intellectual predilections of the Romanovs, of their interest in rare and ancient editions, among which were books of the 17th—18th centuries. The prices for books indicated in the letters are of no small importance. Among the information about the booksellers’ assortment offered to the Romanovs we should mention the books that for one reason or another did not interest the members of the dynasty during the preliminary acquaintance and were returned to the bookseller.In the course of the research, the drafts of P.P. Shibanov’s letters to the Moscow Governor-General, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, were revealed, and the exchange of telegrams with the Pushkin enthusiast, Prince Oleg Konstantinovich of Imperial Blood, was analyzed.Most of the letters were received from the court offices of the Grand Dukes Nikolai Mikhailovich (a famous historian), Konstantin Konstantinovich and Pyotr Nikolayevich (through the court office of the latter the sending of books to his wife, Grand Duchess Militsa Nikolaevna, for familiarization was discussed).The letters we have identified cover mainly the late 1890s — early 1900s; the latest are a telegram from Prince Oleg Konstantinovich of Imperial Blood, received by P.P. Shibanov in 1913, and a letter from the court office of Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich in 1915.The studied letters reveal the book assortment offered by P.P. Shibanov to the members of the Imperial Family and the book preferences of the Romanovs, but do not indicate whether these books were purchased by them.

The Head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna: Touches to a Biographical Portrait (on the 70th Anniversary of Her Birth)

The Head of the Russian Imperial House of Romanov, Grand Duchess Maria Vladimirovna: Touches to a Biographical Portrait (on the 70th Anniversary of Her Birth)

К вопросу о роли великого князя Александра Михайловича в зарождении отечественных военно-воздушных сил

Introduction. The article is devoted to the analysis of the contribution of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich to the birth of the Russian Air Force. The authors emphasize that despite the concealment or minimization of the role of this outstanding statesman in Soviet historiography, he was able to achieve the most important task for the defense capability of the Russian Empire – the creation of his own aviation and the system of training aviation specialists, thanks to his personal abilities and perseverance. The relevance of the published materials is determined both in general to the history of the emergence and the first years of the development of domestic aviation, and to the imperial house of the Romanovs, in particular. Materials and methods. Thanks to the analysis of special scientific literature, as well as periodicals of the early 20th century, it was possible to conclude that Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich made a great personal contribution to the development of Russian military aviation. This was facilitated by the use of the historical-genetic method, which allows us to consider the early stage of the history of the Air Force of our country. Results. Like most other representatives of the Romanov dynasty who did not occupy the throne, Alexander Mikhailovich devoted his life to serving for the good of the Fatherland. His military education and love of the sea attracted the young Grand Duke to serve in the Navy. Intellectual and creative abilities allowed him to make a number of discoveries, as well as leave behind several scientific studies in the field of navigation and shipping. However, the Grand Duke made a genuine contribution at the state level to the birth of military aviation, being carried away abroad by a new type of transport. Having correctly realized the role of the Air Force in protecting state borders, for a number of years, through his multifaceted activities, he led the country to create its own Military Air Fleet. Conclusion. To date, there is no doubt about the significant contribution of Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich to the birth of the Russian Air Force, which was recognized, including officially, at the state level in 2012.

The development of the Central Naval Museum painting collection in the 20s–30s of the 20th century

The author devoted this article to the history of the receipt of paintings in the collection of the Central Naval Museum in the 20s–30s years of 20th century. He notes that a large number of publications have been published on this topic, in particular, on the redistribution of canvases from both the palaces of the emperor and members of the former Russian imperial house, as well as from private collections. The Hermitage Commission, created to check the stocks of antique valuables and issue paintings for export, transferred in 1929 to the museum paintings by such marine artists as I. K. Aivazovsky, A. K. Beggrov, A. P. Bogolyubov, L. D. Blinov, L. F. Lagorio, N. N. Gritsenko, V. D. Tkachenko. The receipt of paintings on the history of the regular fleet of Russia, not only enriched the collection of paintings, but also became a turning point in the history of the museum. The author emphasizes that the research of materials about the new items that the museum accepted for the state registration, showed that sometimes the names of paintings and the surnames of artists were not indicated in the lists. He draws attention to the fact that in the passports of museum objects in the column “Accounting numbers and designations”, in the column “Old accounting” there are no previous inventory numbers, despite the inventory that took place in the museum in 1938. At the same time, in the album of the Guards Crew, transferred to the museum in 1918, both the old registration numbers of paintings and the new ones are systematically marked in the passports of museum items. The consequences of this inventory have not yet been overcome. In conclusion, the author emphasizes that filling in the missing information about the formation of museum collection in the twentieth century is one of the important components in the museum’s activities.

“THE EVENING PASSED AS USUAL”: LATE AUTUMN IN DENMARK THROUGH THE EYES OF THE RUSSIAN SUCCESSOR (THE DIARY OF GRAND DUKE MICHAEL ALEXANDROVICH, OCTOBER 17 - NOVEMBER 20, 1899)

For the first time, a thematic fragment of the diary of the Successor and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich is published, covering the period of his stay in Denmark in the late autumn of 1899. The diary records demonstrate the calm and measured daily life characteristic of the Danish Royal Family during the reign of King Christian IX, the grandfather of the Grand Duke, and describe the peculiarities of the stay of representatives of the Russian Imperial House visiting Danish relatives. This text of the diary is given in accordance with the methodological recommendations adopted in Russia for the publication of archival document.

A Research on the Printing Period of Ten-Line Edition of Da Guang Yi Hui Yu Pian from the Imperial House Library of Japan

A Research on the Printing Period of Ten-Line Edition of Da Guang Yi Hui Yu Pian from the Imperial House Library of Japan

Retrospective Review of Higher Education Quality: Some Parallels Between Past and Present

Studies of education quality are currently a matter of particular relevance and importance. It would seem that the quality of education should interest the scientific community in different periods (historical periods) of time, however, as practice shows, these studies have been carried out mainly in recent times. The article describes some arguments on the quality of education based on the available historical data on the development of education in Russia. Given that it is not possible to consider in detail all historical periods in different countries within the framework of one article, a summary of the key points influencing the development of education in Russia before the revolutionary events (during a certain period of the reign of the Imperial House of Romanov) was made in a small comparison with the modern perception of the quality of education. Some factors influencing the quality of education in the period from the late 19th to early 20th centuries have been identified. The conclusion is made on changing/unchanging factors affecting the quality of education in modern reality in comparison with past experience in the development of the education system.

Vasily Mikhailovich Vershinin − a Commissar of the Romanov Family
 and a Chronicler of the Revolution

Vasily Mikhailovich Vershinin is a little-known participant of the February Revolution in Russia. His activities in 1917 were hardly subjected to research. Meanwhile, Vershinin was a confidant of the leader of the Provisional Government, A.F. Kerensky, also he was appointed three times as a commissar to oversee former members of the Romanov family. For the first time, as a member of the Provisional Committee of the State Duma, on March 7–9, 1917, he accompanied the abdicated Emperor Nicholas II from Mogilev to Tsarskoe Selo. In August, already as a representative of the Provisional Government, Vershinin participated in the relocation of the former tsar's family to Tobolsk. In September, he was appointed a government commissar supervising former members of the Imperial House of Romanov in the Crimea, where the mother of Nicholas II, Maria Feodorovna, his two sisters,
 Olga and Xenia, and other members of the royal family were kept under arrest. In addition, V.M. Vershinin is the author and initiator of unique historic documents – the journals of Nicholas II journeys to Tsarskoe Selo and Tobolsk, as well as the
 «Protocol of the February Revolution». The «Protocol», the only copy of which Vershinin took into exile, was drawn up by deputies of the State Duma who were eyewitnesses of the events that took place in Petrograd and the Tauride Palace on the first days of the revolution. The article uses previously unpublished archival materials
 and corrects historiographic errors

ON THE QUESTION OF CLARIFYING THE NAME OF ZHU DA (1626–1705) AND ITS ORIGIN

Zhu Da (1626–1705) was a famous Chinese artist who lived during the late-Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty. He was born in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. Zhu Da was related to the imperial house of Ming. After the fall of this dynasty, during the reign of the Manchus, he was forced to hide, became a monk for some time and reached heights in the study of Buddhism, after which he returned to worldly life. Zhu Da and his work were significantly influenced by the classical texts of Confucianism, the philosophy of Cheng-Zhu, Buddhism and Taoism. His poetic captions for paintings and individual poems are extremely symbolic and have a special artistic style. Zhu Da became a reformer of traditional literati painting (wenrenhua) and raised it to new heights. Subsequently, he had a great influence on the painting of representatives of the Four Monks and the Eight Eccentrics from Yangzhou, as well as on the style of such 20th century masters as Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong, who worked at the end of the Qing period and the beginning of the Republican period in China. The last fifty years have become the most fruitful period in the field of studying the work of Zhu Da. The research moved outside of China, publications by foreign scientists appeared about the artist, and the name of Zhu Da (Bada Shanren) gained worldwide fame and recognition. The scientific works and articles devoted to him are conventionally divided into the following three thematic areas. The first one is the study of Zhu Da’s pseudonyms (names), his life and contacts with artists and poets, his contemporaries. The second area is the study of Zhu Da’s creative thought and artistic achievements. The third one is a study of the influence of Zhu Da’s painting style on later artists and related comparisons. The article analyses publications and scientific works devoted to Zhu Da’s creative work, published over the past half century. Among them, those related to clarifying the pseudonyms (names) of Zhu Da, his pedigree and biography are especially highlighted; various approaches of Chinese and foreign scientists to the study of the creative work of the outstanding Chinese master and his artistic heritage are considered.

Krinagoras and Imperial Glory

This paper examines two epigrams of the Mytilenean poet Krinagoras (AP 9.562 and 9.224), traditionally interpreted as court flattery examples. Krinagoras was a poet close to the Augustan court, and many of his epigrams praised members of the imperial house. However, a closer examination of these epigrams reveals a discreet dose of irony towards the glory of Augustus, a seemingly strange choice on the part of a court poet of the Augustan circle. It seems that Krinagoras, who travelled from his native island Mytilene to the westernmost part of the Roman Empire in Tarragona as a member of the embassy to meet Augustus, used irony as a stylistic instrument to insinuate his discontent for the hardships he had suffered. The paper contributes to a growing literature that examines the ways literary works functioned as instruments of flattering the ruler but also concealed resentment or mockery, even against the Roman emperor. Krinagoras' irony is merely one instance among many where subtle mockery and satire of the imperial family were exercised in the early Augustan period.

Fischer von Erlach and the Habsburg imperial historians

The Entwurff einer historischen Architectur (Outline of an Historical Architecture, 1721), by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, architect to the Austrian imperial court, is often seen as a milestone in the literature of architecture, and as the first comparative and universal history of architecture. In part because it has been studied primarily as a work of architectural history, rather than imperial history, it has become relatively unmoored from a large body of earlier and contemporary histories of the Habsburgs and the imperial house. These works cumulatively established a distinct historiographical tradition that informs the content and narrative of Fischer’s book and aligns it closely with a deeply ideological narrative in which a historical line leads directly from the Old Testament patriarchs through Greco-Roman rulers to the Holy Roman Emperors, and from Jerusalem and Rome to modern Vienna. To a substantial degree, this historiography, rather than a nascent architectural canon, determined the contents and presentation of the Entwurff.

Late autumn in Ilyinskoye: the diary of grand duke Sergei Alexandrovich, 15 October – 16 November 1897

For the first time, a part of the documentary heritage of the representative of the Russian Imperial House, Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, is published a fragment of his diary for the period from October 15 to November 16, 1897. The entries were made during his stay in the Ilyinskoye estate near Moscow. The diary describes the daily life of the Grand Duke, his cultural leisure on a country estate (reading, games, hunting), as well as his official activities as the Moscow Governor-General and the Commander of the Moscow Military District.

Publishing Trends in Russia, the Top Projects and Authors of 2022

The author analyses participation of the Russian State Library (RSL) in the International Fair of Intellectual Literature non/fictio№ 24, which took place on December 1—5, 2022. The paper presents the review of new scientific publications of the RSL “Pashkov Dom” Publishing House. The top list of the non/fictio№ 24 includes two new publications of the RSL “Pashkov Dom”: the book devoted to L.M. Koval “The Keeper of the History of Leninka” (2021) and “The Art of Valery Pokatov: Pages of Life and Creative Work” (2021).In 2022, the Russian State Library celebrated the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Moscow Public Museum and the Rumyantsev Museum. The anniversary stand of the RSL presented publications on the history of the library, catalogues of the collections and exhibitions, issues of the journals “Observatory of Culture”, “Bibliotekovedenie” (Library Science), etc. The leaders of sales were the collection of articles “‘This very first seal was beautiful: round, dimensional, pureʼ. The book culture of the era of Peter the Great” (2022), the publication of the comedy by A.S. Griboyedov “Woe from Wit” (2022), the album-catalogue by S.P. Utva “Gifts of the Imperial House to the Moscow Public Museum and Rumyantsev Museum” (2022).Of particular note is the monograph “Essays on the Development of Bibliographic Activity of the Russian State Library” (2022) and the second edition of the collective work “Scientific Research in Libraries: Subject Themes, Organization, Presentation of Results” (2023).The article summarizes the publishing trends in Russia formulated by the experts on December 2, 2022 at the discussion “Digitalization of book production and the future of the industry, skills of forming a comprehensive publishing project” in the framework of non/fictio№ 24.The significant event of 2022 was the 17th season of the “Big Book” National Literary Award, established by the Centre for the Support of Russian Literature. The solemn ceremony of awarding the prize winners took place on December 8, 2022 at the Pashkov House of the Russian State Library.

Mustafa Celebi vs Murad II: The Interference of Byzantium in the Dynastic Feuds of the Ottomans

This article researches political activities of the son of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I (1389–1402) Mustafa Celebi, supported by the Byzantine Emperors Manuel II and John VIII Palaiologoi in the internecine war with Sultan Murad II (1421–1444, 1446–1451). The materials of Byzantine, Ottoman, and Venetian sources provide the background to analyze the degree of participation of the Byzantine basilei in the intradynastic affairs of the Ottomans, the reasons leading to the Byzantine support for Mustafa, and the consequences of the Ottoman internecine war for the Byzantine state. The study undertaken has discovered that the priority direction of Byzantine policy in the first quarter of the fifteenth century was to weaken the Ottoman house. To this end, Byzantine basilei actively intervened in the dynastic feuds of the Ottomans, supporting one of the candidates for the Ottoman throne, and used the Ottoman princes who were at the Byzantine court to influence the internal affairs of the Ottoman state. Byzantine emperors’ fragile alliance with one of the contenders for the Ottoman throne Mustafa Celebi, who was defeated in the intra-dynastic struggle with Sultan Murad II, not only did not bring significant dividends to the empire, but also aggravated the conflict between the imperial house and the sultan, which led to a new stage of Ottoman expansion into the Byzantine lands.

The Wandering Holy Man: The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine ed. by Johannes Hahn and Volker Menze

Reviewed by: The Wandering Holy Man: The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine ed. by Johannes Hahn and Volker Menze Scott Johnson The Wandering Holy Man: The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine. Edited by Johannes Hahn and Volker Menze. (Oakland: University of California Press. 2020. Pp. x, 324. $95.00. ISBN: 9780520304147.) The fifth-century Life of Barsauma is one of the longest and most intriguing Syriac hagiographical texts to survive from Late Antiquity. Until this volume, only excerpts had been published in a modern language, by François Nau in French in [End Page 175] 1913/14. With this volume we now have, in addition to seven excellent chapters on the text, an English translation of the full work, made by Andrew Palmer (pp. 187–271), based on his forthcoming critical text of the Life. This book thus represents a fantastic success both in bringing the Life to a larger audience while also exploring some of the nuanced aspects of a largely unknown (or misunderstood) work. Toward the end of this book, Daniel Caner remarks in his chapter “Wandering Monks Remembered” that the Life of Barsauma is a “hagiographical masterpiece” (p. 151). Elsewhere, Jan Willem Drijvers, in his chapter “Barsauma, Eudocia, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount,” calls it a “fascinating hagiographical report” (p. 103), and Günter Stemberger, in his chapter “Barsauma’s Travels to the Holy Land and Jewish History,” lauds its “consistently literary character” (p. 74). Almost across the board this book praises the high quality of this long Syriac text. At the same time, these scholars strike a discordant note: Stemberger calls the Life “pure fiction” (p. 88); Drijvers “predominantly fiction” and “a literary construct and a historical fabrication” (p. 103). Simon Corcoran, in his chapter “Barsauma and the Emperors,” puts it more delicately: “When [the author] gives sufficient details for his account to be checked, he is often found wanting” (p. 49). The Life of Barsauma is fascinating in a number of ways and repays close reading. It defies genre characterization, being structured by ninety-nine “signs” and not written with precise chronology in mind—its closest analogues would be the familiar miracle collections from the Greek world, of which we have no other examples in Syriac. In it we gain a full picture of one of the most rigorous fifth-century holy men of the vaunted Syriac tradition, a contemporary of Simeon the Stylite’s, and, according to Simeon himself in this Life, even more holy. He was a “chief of mourners (risha d-abile)” and achieved ascetic perfection (gmiruta), in technical Syriac parlance. But that full picture also includes close relationships with both the emperor Theodosius II and his empress Eudocia, four violent pilgrimages to Jerusalem, repeated assaults on Jews, pagans, and fellow Christians, and the complete destruction of a synagogue. The Life, therefore, claims a great deal for its saint that, if verifiable, would transform our understanding of the social category of holy man in Late Antiquity. Alas, much of the Life appears to have been written from thin air. Theodosius II certainly invited Barsauma the archimandrite to Ephesus II in 449, and he played a role there and at Chalcedon, where he was the only attendee to speak on the floor in Syriac (as we learn from the Acta). But his relationship to the imperial house and formal leadership in the Miaphysite movement were minimal. The anti-Judaism of the work is significant, but his direct actions against the Jews in Palestine cannot be proven and seem to be echoes of anti-Julian rhetoric which had a long half-life in Syriac. As Johannes Hahn explains in his excellent conclusion to this very stimulating volume, “What we can primarily gain from the Life is an artfully crafted image or rather remembrance of Barsauma the saint, not a representation of the historical person” (p. 172). The book (and Life) are, however, a goldmine for readers interested in the exploration of genre, Syriac ascetic categories, and, further, [End Page 176] how hagiographical tropes could, at times, serve to countenance violence in an age of doctrinal and social unrest. Scott Johnson...

THE RUSSIAN SUCCESSOR VISITING DANISH RELATIVES: FROM THE DIARIES BY GRAND DUKE MICHAEL ALEXANDROVICH, AUGUST 10 - SEPTEMBER 21, 1899

For the first time, a fragment of diaries of the Successor and Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich is published, covering his stay in Denmark in August - September 1899. The records reflect the daily life, lifestyle and leisure of the Russian Successor and other members of the Russian Imperial House while visiting Denmark, their relationships with foreign relatives, as well as participation in protocol events.

Searches of Former Members of the Romanov Imperial House in Crimea in April 1917

Searches of Former Members of the Romanov Imperial House in Crimea in April 1917

Обзор личного фонда великого князя Михаила Александровича в Государственном архиве Российской Федерации. 1878-1918 гг.

This article presents an overview of the personal provenance fond of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich—member of the Russian Imperial House, younger brother of Emperor Nicholas II, a major military, state, and public figure, who held the posts of the Commander of the Savage Division, member of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, Chairman of the Imperial Russian Historical Museum, who for a time was heir to the throne—which is stored in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The archival fond, formed and described in the Soviet period, contains 137 storage units, including, among others, personal diaries of the fond-maker, epistolary and educational materials, business papers, official documents, photographs and drawings. The history of the fond formation is described, various groups of files are analyzed, their information potential, quantitative and qualitative characteristics of materials are assessed, source analysis of the most important documents is provided, most revealing quotes are given. Special attention is paid to the diaries of the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich, his correspondence and its most voluminous part, letters to his cousin and lover, Princess Beatrice of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and letters from the Grand Duke’s tutor Ferdinand Tormeyer and from his wife Natalia Brasova. Letters and telegrams from other relatives were deposited in smaller number (his mother, Empress Maria Feodorovna, his brother, Emperor Nicholas II, his sisters, Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga, his niece, Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, his cousin, Princess Tyra of Denmark), as well as statesmen and courtiers: the Minister of the Imperial Court Baron Freedericksz, Lady-in-Waiting of the Imperial Court Countess Vorontsova-Dashkova, and others. The Grand Duke’s diaries and correspondence reflect his personal life, official and social activities. Illustrative material is presented in the fond quite voluminously, primarily, as photographs, including those taken by the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich himself, as well as his own drawings. A significant array of storage units of the fond was introduced into scientific use, mostly, by the historian Vladimir Khrustalev; some of the materials were published (mainly diaries and correspondence of the period of the World War I); however, many documents still require scientific research to reveal little-explored aspects of the Grand Duke’s life and work.

Хошеутовский улус в программе путешествия царской семьи летом 1871 г.: к истории происхождения калмыцких экспонатов Российского этнографического музея

Goals. The work attempts an analysis of sources constituting the program of stay of Emperor Alexander II and Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich, the future Emperor Alexander III, who visited Khosheutovsky Ulus of Kalmyk Steppe (Astrakhan Governorate) in the summer of 1871 during their trip to the Caucasus. It is the ceremonial part of such travels that has made it possible to preserve most precious artifacts illustrating the material heritage of Russia’s peoples nowadays investigated by researchers representing various fields of science. Materials and methods. The chronological method in synthesis with that of reconstruction prove instrumental in considering the summer 1871 visit paid by members of Russia’s imperial house to Khosheutovsky Ulus in a time sequence, while the ideographic method helps describe the event under study. The paper focuses on documentary materials housed at the State Archive of Astrakhan Oblast and the National Archive of Kalmykia. The examined evidence also includes photographic images of showpieces from the Russian Museum of Ethnography, as well as works by pre-revolutionary and contemporary authors. Results. The distinct culture of Kalmyk Buddhists was undoubtedly attracting the attention of the monarchs. Expressing feelings of loyalty and showing respect for the reigning family, Kalmyks would present the latter with best works of decorative and applied arts of theirs that vividly illustrate nomadic lifestyles of the ethnos. Each item is characterized not only by environmental friendliness and portability — as legacy and experience of previous generations — but also bears traces of acculturation processes to have taken place in the Volga’s multiconfessional space. At present, those artefacts serve as centerpieces to collections of many museums not only in Russia but also abroad.

The Japanese Imperial Monarchy as an Icon of Sociopolitical Signification - Japan’s Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945−2019. By Kenneth J. Ruoff. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2020, 419 pp. Hardcover $32.00

The Japanese Imperial Monarchy as an Icon of Sociopolitical Signification - Japan’s Imperial House in the Postwar Era, 1945−2019. By Kenneth J. Ruoff. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2020, 419 pp. Hardcover $32.00