State Library Research Articles

Каталоги и прейскуранты нотоиздательской фирмы «Юлий Генрих Циммерман»: организация, рекламные механизмы, ассортимент (из фондов Российской государственной библиотеки

The music publishing business of the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries is one of the most interesting phenomena in Russian culture that makes it possible for us to analyze the specific features of its spatial and temporal development and a vast scholarly range. The article examines the advertising materials, periodical catalogues and price lists of individual printing company, and as a result the necessity arises for a holistic perception of the manufactured assortment and a certain number of its features. As a rule, this is associated with the commercial interests of specialized firms that published and sold musical scores and books about music, the situation in the market of that time, as well as the objective and subjective factors of historical time. The publishing house “Julius Heinrich Zimmerman” was the leader of the industrial segment that made use of advanced technologies in the publishing and sales of sheet music. The scale of this activity is fully reflected in the special catalogues preserved in the funds of the Russian State Library (containing valuable material about their cultural profile, economic strategies, advertising mechanisms and artistic components) — a generalizing example of the work of many competitive enterprises. The focus of our attention lies on catalogues covering the time period between 1885 and 1911 — the time period of the creation of a systemic network trade, the opening of branches in other countries, and the achievement of a stable international reputation. Examination of these samples makes it possible to understand the algorithms of obtaining monetary profit and marketing moves that are also on demand at the present time.

Библиотечный диалог стран СНГ как площадка для Международного профессионального обмена

The article describes the implementation of a professional development program for young librarians from the CIS countries, which was implemented with the support of the MFGS in 2023 by the M.I. Rudomino All-Russian State Library for Foreign Literature (Moscow) and the V. Mayakovsky Central City Library (St. Petersburg). The topics and brief content of professional events as part of the program are listed. Its results and significance for the formation and strengthening of the professional community of libraries in the CIS are presented.

Сонаты и партиты для скрипки соло И. С. Баха: источниковедческий анализ автографа и его рукописных копий первой трети XVIII века

The article is devoted to a textual analysis of the autograph of J. S. Bach’s sonatas and partitas for violin solo and two of its copies-lists, followed by copyists from the composer’s inner circle A. M. Bach and I. P. Kellner. The research material is manuscripts of the first third of the 18th century, stored in the archives of the Berlin State Library — Prussian Cultural Heritage. As a result of the analysis, the reliability of the handwritten copy of A. M. Bach was established and significant macrostructural and microstructural changes in the copy of I. P. Kellner were identified. J. S. Bach’s autograph and his handwritten copies open up a unique opportunity for performing musicians and musicologists not only to significantly expand their understanding of the composer’s works for violin solo, but to come into contact with the history of the comprehension and understanding of his creations by his contemporaries.

The University course of basic theology by archpriest Fyodor Fedorovich Sidonsky in the context of academic lectures by his contemporaries

The only published dogmatic material of the Russian philosopher of the middle of the 19th century, prot. F. F. Sidonsky, is “A genetic introduction to Orthodox theology”, a course of lectures delivered by him in 1872 at St. Petersburg University. The purpose of the study is a comparative analysis of the principles of its construction and methodology with similar courses taught at the theological academies by Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov) and Archpriest A. V. Gorsky. In contrast to the repeatedly reprinted “Introduction to Orthodox theology” by Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov), the notes of Archpriest A. V. Gorsky were discovered in his archive, stored in the Russian State Library and have not yet been introduced into scientific circulation. The analytical part of the article is preceded by a brief overview of biographical information about the scientific and teaching activities of Archpriest F. F. Sidonsky, Archpriest A. V. Gorsky and Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov). All the authors belong to the same generation, but to different academic schools: St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev; they have been awarded the highest degrees of not only academic, but also secular science Archpriests Theodore and Alexander read their courses much later than Metropolitan Makariy (Bulgakov), therefore, they pay considerable attention to refuting the natural-scientific criticism of Christianity, which intensified in the late 1850s. The originality of the presentation of the subject by Professor F. F. Sidonsky in comparison with his colleagues is largely due to his secular audience.

A Different Copy of the Pigeon Epic found in the Bawarian State Library

Manzum halk hikâyelerinin Türk edebiyatında geçmişi çok eskilere dayanmaktadır. Şekil olarak divan şiirine özgü özelliklerin ön plana çıktığı bu türde dinî-tasavvufî, ahlakî, konuların olağanüstülüklerle örülerek işlendiği görülür. İslamiyet’e geçişle ortaya çıkan bu eserler, özellikle Türklerin Anadolu’ya gelişiyle birlikte yaygınlaşmıştır. Halka şiir yoluyla İslamiyet’i sevdirmek, İslamiyet’in esaslarını öğretmek amacıyla yazılmış bu eserlerde halkın rahatlıkla anlayabileceği sade bir dil kullanılmıştır. Bu özellikleri sebebiyle sözlü gelenek içerisinde yüzyıllarca anlatılagelmiş ve anonimleşerek günümüze kadar ulaşmıştır. Bu türün en güzel örneklerinden biri de Kirdeci Ali’ye atfedilen Güvercin Destanı’dır. Türk-İslam edebiyatının ilk örneklerinden olan bu manzum hikâyenin 20’ye yakın nüshası tespit edilebilmiştir. Destanın hâlen farklı kütüphanelerde yeni nüshaları ortaya çıkmaktadır. Bavyera Eyalet Kütüphanesi urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb10250028-7’de Hikâye-yi Mevlid-i Şerif ismindeki 51 sayfalık mecmuanın içinde taş basma (litografi) yöntemiyle hazırlanmış Güvercin Destanı bulunmaktadır. 1857 yılında İstanbul’da çoğaltılmış olan eserde Güvercin Destanı dışında farklı hikâyeler de vardır. Güvercin Destanı, 35. sayfanın 12. satırıyla başlayıp 37. sayfanın 8. satırına kadar devam etmektedir ve toplamda 34 beyit bulunmaktadır. Makalede bu nüsha çeviri yazıyla verilmiş ve metnin dizini çıkarılarak araştırmacıların istifadesine sunulmuştur. Bu çalışma, ortaya yeni çıkan nüshalarla birlikte bu destanlar üzerine karşılaştırmalı çalışmalar yapılmasına ve Güvercin Destanı’nın tam bir metninin ortaya çıkmasına katkı sağlayacaktır.

Principles of Ritual Prayer: An 18th Century Catechism in Bahdini Kurdish

Abstract This article presents an edition and linguistic analysis of a verse catechism in the Bahdini dialect of Kurdish. The manuscript of the text is dated to late 18th century and is held among the Oriental manuscripts collections of the Berlin State Library. The text is a didactic verse on the principles and rules of the Islamic ritual prayer (ṣalāt), belonging thus to the catechism or in its Turkish-Arabic term ʿilm -i ḥāl genre. It is the oldest example of the catechism genre, different from creeds, in Kurdish literature that started in the late 16th century. The text is edited here within the context of religious treatises in Kurdish and analysed for its historical-linguistic and dialectological aspects that illustrate Early Modern Kurdish.

From Alphabets to the Basics of Science: to the 200th Anniversary of K.D. Ushinsky

The article provides an overview of the work of the international scientific conference “Textbook of the 15—19 Centuries in Library, Museum and Archival Collections: Rarities and Valuable Collections”, held in Moscow, at the Russian State Library, November 1-2, 2023. Within the framework of the conference, four sessions were held: “Problems of studying early educational publications”, “Textbooks of the 17—18 centuries”, “Visual culture and an educational book” and “Educational publications of the 19 century in personal and library collections”. The authors express the hope that the conference will become an important stage in the study of educational old printed books and will give a new impetus to historical and book studies, bibliographic, source and philological research.

The Results of the All-Russian Competition of Scientifi c Papers on Library Science, Bibliography and Bibliology — 2023

On 28 November 2023, within the framework of the All–Russian meeting of heads of federal and central regional libraries of Russia, the winners of the next All– Russian competition of scientifi c papers on library science, bibliography and book studies were solemnly awarded. On behalf of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the competition was organized by the Russian National Library and co-organized by the Russian State Library with the support of the Russian Library Association. The competition is one of the main tools for assessing the effectiveness of scientifi c activity in the fi eld of librarianship. The competition contributes to the support and development of science in librarianship within the framework of the “Strategy for the development of librarianship in the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030” and meets the objectives set by the President of the Russian Federation in the “Fundamentals of State Cultural Policy” in the fi eld of development of research of social and humanitarian nature.

Russian Bindings of the 1780s—1790s with Endpapers Made of Decorative Block-Printed Paper

One of the most difficult tasks in the study of bindings of old printed books is to determine the time of their manufacture in the absence of a date affixed by the bookbinder or the customer and other documented information. The study attempts to identify the characteristic features of Russian bindings of the last two decades of the 18th century, based on a group of bindings united by one material — decorative flyleaf paper with block-printed pattern. The article tells about the history of the manufacture of such decorative papers in Europe and Russia in the 18th century, about the types of printed drawings of Russian papers and the peculiarities of their use in bookbinding. Endpapers made of block-printed paper became one of the characteristic features of Russian bindings of the 1780s—1790s. The research is based on books printed in Moscow printing houses from the collection of publications of the civil press of the 18th century in the Department of Rare Books of the Russian State Library (Book Museum). There were 1080 books in-octavo format of the 1780s—1790s were selected in solid-leather bindings only with block-printed endpapers, their design and decorative features were identified and described. The analysis showed that such endpaper was almost always combined in the binding with marbled calfskin of a special pattern as a cover material, which can be considered as a sign of a special genre of binding. His other features: the method of fastening the endpapers, the absence of a headband and ribbon or cord bookmarks, characteristic stamping stamps — are non-specific, but also quite regular, so they can be used for more accurate dating and other domestic bindings of the late 18th century.

Hectographed Old Believer Editions from the Collection of the RSL Book Museum

The article is devoted to the hectographed Old Believer publications stored in Scientific Research Department of Rare Books (the Book Museum) in Russian State Library. A brief description of the composition of the collection is presented, as well as the specifics of its formation (in the absolute majority such publications were received after the revolutionary events of 1917). The main sources of their receipt were the book collections of the most famous Old Believer community in Moscow (at the Rogozhsky cemetery), as well as the nationalized library of the Brotherhood of St. Peter the Metropolitan. For historians of the book, the thematic composition of the collection of Old Believer authors and writings is of interest.

The Enduring Value of the Testimony Of Faith In the Story of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste in the Berlin Damaskin

The manuscript collection of the Jagiellonian Library in Cracow contains the so-called Berlin Damaskin (Berl. Slav. Fol. 36, late 18th c.), a handwritten codex belonging to the former Prussian State Library in Berlin. Damaskin, as a book type, marks a transition in the literary tradition in the Balkans, and in particular in Bulgaria, between the medieval Church Slavonic, and the early modern tradition of the Orthodox Church. Its expression is characterised by simplified language, less formal register, and a more extensive use of the common (vernacular) spoken language. Among the forty-five texts included in the Berlin Damaskin there is the Story of the Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste. Based on medieval hagiographic sources, the Story is an interesting case of employing an old literary theme in the service of the new Bulgarian religious and homiletic literature. The present paper discusses the characteristic features of the Story’s composition and its plot, with special emphasis put on the narrative’s axiological message.

The 20th International Scientific Readings in Memory of N.F. Fedorov: Prologue to the 200th Anniversary of the Philosopher in 2029

A scientific review of the problems and content of the 20th International Scientific Readings in Memory of N.F. Fedorov is presented. The event took place on June 7—10, 2023 in Moscow and was devoted to the ideas, projects, and heritage of Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov (1829—1903), an outstanding Russian philosopher, theorist of library and museum studies, pedagogue and innovator. The relevance of the Forum is conditioned both by the necessity of forming the programme of celebrating the 200th anniversary of N.F. Fedorov’s birth, which will be celebrated in 2029, and by the large-scale work on the creation of an encyclopedic online resource dedicated to the philosopher. Its goals: to present in a systematized form the main achievements of Fedorov studies of the 20th—21st centuries in Russia and abroad, to give a coherent and authoritative body of knowledge about N.F. Fedorov, to become a guide to his creative heritage and Fedorovianism of the 20th century, to show the significance of N.F. Fedorov’s ideas for modernity. The opening and plenary session of the event took place in the Russian State Library. The reports delivered during the readings contain the latest results of research in the field of N.F. Fedorov’s biography, introduce new archival data into the scientific turnover, make a significant contribution to the analytical description of N.F. Fedorov’s philosophical system, his language and poetics, aesthetics, pedagogy, and museology. As part of the readings, a round table was held devoted to the programme of celebrating the 200th anniversary of N.F. Fedorov’s birth. It presented current memorial, educational, creative projects of libraries, museums, schools, cultural centers working with the name and heritage of the philosopher of the “universal cause”. In addition to the scientific agenda, the programme of the readings included the ceremony of awarding the N.F. Fedorov Medal to librarians who embody his model of a “library open to all”.

The Beginning of the Large-Scale Reconstruction of the Russian State Library: Architecture and Digitalization

The article reveals the foundations of design and research surveys, on the basis of which the Russian State Library (RSL) implemented the project of repair and restoration works for the central entrance of the library. The aim of the works was to adapt the cultural heritage object to modern use. The building complex, conceived in the mid — 1920s, was completed by 1940, but it was not fully commissioned until 1960. In the mid — 1970s, there was insufficient space to store the growing holdings. The front decoration of the central hall suffered enormous damage over the years. In 2019, a negative trend in the condition of the building was revealed. The main book depository was overloaded. The problems of the RSL are combined in a comprehensive investment programme for the reconstruction and restoration of infrastructure facilities. In 2019—2020, design solutions were developed for the repair and restoration of buildings and individual public spaces of the library. In 2021, the first stage of restoration of the entrance group began. The decision was made to carry out the work in a service-preserving environment and the challenge was to transform the very model of service to readers. The team working on the restoration made decisions reflecting the development of 21st century technologies and current standards for the automation of library processes. As a result of the works, new technological channels for the building operation and space for servicing readers were arranged, a climate control system was installed, the power supply and electric lighting system was replaced, historical interiors were restored, modern fire and engineering safety systems were created, a new centralized information and navigation complex for readers was deployed, etc. In 2023, a grandiose historical space was opened for the RSL readers.

Organizing Research in Libraries: Framing the Problem

On September 27—28, 2023, the Russian National Library (RNL) hosted the First All-Russian Meeting of Deputy Directors of Libraries for Scientific and Methodological Work, organized on behalf of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation together with the Russian State Library (RSL) and the Russian Library Association. The main purpose of the meeting was to improve the organization of research work in central libraries of the Russian Federation subjects for more active participation of libraries in the implementation of the tasks set out in the “Fundamentals of State Cultural Policy”.The meeting was the next stage in the consistent work of national libraries to support, intensify and institutionalize research work in Russian libraries: the RNL developed a normative-recommendatory act “Sample Provision on Organization of Research Activities of the Central Library of the Subject of the Russian Federation”, adopted on June 15, 2023 at the All-Russian Library Congress; together with the RSL, courses were held as part of additional professional education on “Organization of Research Activities in Libraries”; a collection of articles “Research Activities in Regional Libraries: Content and Organization” was published.In the course of the meeting the issues of paramount importance for the central regional libraries were discussed: state scientific policy, the problem field of library research, experience in organizing research work in libraries of different types, methodology and techniques of library research, organization of interaction between central regional libraries and the RNL and the RSL within the framework of forming a unified system of scientific and methodological work of libraries. The main attention was paid to the central libraries of the subjects of the Russian Federation, which play the role of scientific and methodological centers for the libraries of the region. Based on the results of the meeting, further necessary measures were outlined to strengthen the scientific functions of libraries, which are important for the development of the country’s culture.

Registers of Educational Programmes as a Tool for Developing the Industry’s Human Resources Potential

The purpose of the article is to present a toolkit for analyzing changes in the system of library training, its subsequent adjustment and transformation into an effective tool for the development of the industry. The basis of this work is the monitoring of the functioning of the system of university and additional professional education (APE) in the field of “Library and Information Activities”.To solve this task the specialists of the Russian State Library have developed and created two registers: The Register of basic educational programmes of higher education, implemented in the direction of “Library and Information Activity”, and the Register of existing educational programmes of advanced training and professional retraining for library specialists. The registers are placed in the “Library Professionals” section of the federal state information system “National Electronic Library”. A study of these registers has been carried out and their expert evaluation has been made. The result of this work may be the creation of a “map” of higher and additional professional education of Russian library professionals.The register of basic educational programmes of higher education implemented in the field of “Library and Information Activity” contains details about 73 educational programmes of higher education of institutions from 32 subjects of the Russian Federation. The register of educational programmes of professional development and professional retraining for library specialists includes information about 241 educational programmes of additional professional development (29 professional retraining programmes and 212 professional development programmes). These programmes are implemented in 34 subjects of the Russian Federation.The programmes of APE are analyzed. The author’s methodology of evaluation of professional retraining programmes is presented. The minimum number of points that a professional retraining programme received according to the results of the examination was 6, the maximum number of points was 43.33 (out of 50 possible).Conclusions on the results of the expert evaluation are given. The prepared registers are presented as one of the elements of the information and educational platform of Russian libraries.

Analisis Kompetensi Pustakawan dalam Mendukung Layanan Perpustakaan (Studi Kasus di Perpustakaan UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung)

One of the determining factors in efforts to improve the quality of service in university libraries is to increase the competence of librarians. The digital era has changed the role of the library which has an impact on service changes. Accordingly, this study analyzes the competency of librarians in supporting library services at the Library of Islamic State of Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung using American Library Association (ALA) standards. The research approach uses descriptive qualitative with a case study model where researchers observe and examine documents and gather information by interviewing librarians, heads of libraries, heads of administration and staffing bureaus, and users consisting of lecturers and student. The results of the analysis show that the competence of librarians is still limited to managing printed collections. As for digital services, only 0.26% of the total number of librarians manage it so competencies related to digital library services need to be improved and developed.

Brocade Papers in the Collection of Russian Books of Civil Printing of the 18th Century of the Russian State Library Book Museum

Among the decorative binding papers of the 18th century, brocade papers, so called because of their resemblance to expensive gold woven fabrics, can be recognized as particularly spectacular. The rich relief pattern, the combination of gold and silver lustre with a multi-coloured paper backing was the secret of their popularity in European countries for a whole century.The technique of paper gilding and embossing originated in the early 18th century in Augsburg. Subsequently, brocade papers were produced in various cities in Germany and mainly spread throughout Europe from there. Although brocade papers were also used by Russian masters, there are no special works about this binding material in the Russian historiography.The article is devoted to the description of the collection of brocade papers preserved as covers and forzats in Russian civil books of the 18th century in the collection of the Book Museum of the Russian State Library (RSL). The questions of terminology, production technology and systematization of brocade papers are considered. The main types of domestic publications characterized by the use of this material are calendars, published annually at the Academy of Sciences printing house in St. Petersburg, and descriptions of various celebrations, speeches “on occasion”, odes, “instructive words” and “reasonings”, produced by different printing houses and usually small in volume.The collection provides rich material for a more accurate understanding of the role of the printing house and the aesthetic preferences of the reading public in the external design of books in the period of the birth of bookbinding in Russia. Decorative binding papers are valuable not only for the researcher of old-printed books, librarian, collector or restorer, but also for the cultural historian in a broad sense, as content, stylistically and technologically they reflect general trends in the production of wallpapers, fabrics, furniture and trade packaging. On the basis of the description of the quantitative and qualitative composition of the collection of the RSL Book Museum a methodology of working with brocade papers is proposed, which can be applied to the collections of other fund holders as well.

“Indispensable Reference Book”: Russian Calendars or Monthbooks of the 18th Century from the Collection of the Russian State Library Book Museum

For a modern user, a calendar is usually a reference table that lists all the days of the year in sequential order, dividing them into months and weeks, and highlighting weekends and holidays with a special color. People of the 18th century gave the calendar similar definitions, but its functions were much broader: the calendar became a desk book, fulfilled the functions of a notebook, an individual for each family home directory — for this purpose in the copies, even at the stage of conclusion in the cover or binding, blank sheets were bound to keep family and household records. Throughout most of the 18th century, the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St Petersburg had the exclusive right to issue calendars, and the calendars, along with other academic publications, were subject to state and church control, as they contained current information about persons serving at the court and about the highest Russian officialdom. The Russian State Library as part of the collection of the Research Department of Rare Books (Museum of Books) holds a representative collection of calendars and monthbooks of the 18th century, which makes it possible to get acquainted with the repertoire of this type of publications. The present study examines the subjects and readers’ address of calendars or monthbooks of the 18th century, reveals the content of the “Calendar or Monthbook for the summer from the Nativity of Christ...”, court, historical, geographical, economic, travel, church, “fortune-telling” calendars on the example of copies from the collection of the Book Museum.The calendar as a type of publishing reacted sensitively to the changes that took place in society and in the book business in different historical periods, tried to record the information that seemed important to contemporaries, helped owners to structure their lives and the lives of their families, their homes and households. Calendars had their readers and admirers. It is in the calendar that one finds information that has not passed the test of time, but is so necessary to reconstruct the history of everyday life of a particular era.

Experiences, Benefits, and Challenges of Virtual Teamwork for Public Libraries in the US Midwest during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Experiences, Benefits, and Challenges of Virtual Teamwork for Public Libraries in the US Midwest during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Problem of Sources in Researching V.N. Khitrovo’s Biography

Through their work, the author examines some of the problems of studying sources while researching the biography of famous Russian statesman V.N. Khitrovo (1834-1903), who played an important role in shaping the Middle East foreign policy of the Russian Empire. While in the region, he made a great contribution to the protection of Orthodoxy and Orthodox pilgrims in the Holy Land, including the development of education of the Arab population of Palestine and Syria, and promoting the spread of Orthodox education. In order to reconstruct the biography of V.N. Khitrovo, sources of various nature and origin were identified and classified. There has been conducted for the first-time analysis of materials from the private collection of V.N. Khitrovo stored in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library; on their basis, the role of V.N. Khitrovo as a specialist in the field of genealogy is revealed within the text. The materials on the history of the Khitrovo family collected by him make it possible to most fully present the history of the family and its role in the development of the future statesman and organizer of science. There was used a wide range of unpublished archival documents containing material important for the reconstruction of V.N. Khitrovo’s biography. Above all, it is the correspondence of widow S.D. Khitrovo with bibliographer and literary critic S.I. Ponomarev. In addition, for the first time, the authors have collected obituary materials, a large amount of reference literature published in Russia in the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries, published official sources and documents of private origin, which have allow the researchers to begin supplementing, clarifying and correcting the information and facts from V.N. Khitrovo’s biography.