The Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Russian: Библиотека Российской академии наук (БАН)) is a large state-owned Russian library based in Saint Petersburg on Vasilievsky Island and open to employees of institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences and scholars with higher education. It is a part of the academy and includes, besides the central collection, the library collections housed by specialized academic institutions in Saint Petersburg and other cities.The library was founded in Saint Petersburg by a decree of Peter I in 1714 and subsequently included into the structure of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Since 1747 all academic institutions and since 1783 all publishers in the country have been legally obliged to provide the library with a free copy of each published item.In 1728-1924 its collections were stored in the building of Kunstkamera, with which it had formed a single academic institution until 1803. In the 1920s the library received many items confiscated during nationalization in Soviet Russia.In 1924-1925 the collections were transferred to the new building built for the library in 1914 and occupied by a military hospital during the First World War.During the siege of Leningrad in 1941-1944 the collections stayed in the besieged city and the library was open.On February 15, 1988, the library suffered the most catastrophic fire in its history which destroyed or damaged a considerable part of the collections,it had destroyed 298.000 books of the total 12 million housed,two to three million more were damaged by heat and smoke. 734,465 copies volumes initially became damp due to firefighting foam. Many of the lost volumes were part of the Baer Collection of foreign scientific works: 152.000 were lost. The rest 146.000 were Russian books, many of them early scientific and medical books from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.The damp books damaged by fire extinguishment were initially frozen. Then a radio appeal was broadcast for citizens to dry the damp books in their homes. By late March 1988 93% of the damp books had been dried in that way and returned to the library. However, about 10,000 books became moldy.The lost fund was partially restored,large batches of books and individual rare editions came from more than 760 domestic libraries to replenish the lost funds.In a 2018 article on the web site "Siberian scientific news" it says that the fire destroyed 298 061 copy of monographs and periodicals; 146,716 books in Russian; 152,245 copies of foreign publications before 1930, arranged according to the classification system of academician Karl Baer (including the legendary Baer fund - about 62 thousand folios). The lost fund was replenish with 222,336 copies from 764 institutions were accepted for the restoration of funds. The loss of 62% of domestic books and 8% of publications from the Baer collection has been replenished. Also destroyed were 20,640 binders, or one third of the newspaper stock,this fund was also partially restored.Other sources say that 45% of the burned books in Russian and 13% in foreign were recovered.Before the fire, as of October 1, 1986, the collection of the library and libraries subordinate to it consisted of 17,288,365 items.
Рассматриваются распродажи произведений искусства из частных и императорских коллекций Российской империи на аукционе Rudolph Lepke в Берлине в 1928–1929 годах. Анализируются исторические обстоятельства, предшествовавшие этим торгам. В поле исследования автора – судьба девяти произведений искусств, выявленных в музейных собраниях мира и на современном художественном рынке Европы и Америки: освещаются вопросы их провенанса, смена владельцев, текущее местоположение.
Статья посвящена черновой рукописи доклада Константина Федоровича Калайдовича (1792–1832) «Кого разумеет предание, достигшее до дней летописателя Нестора, под названием святого Андрея: первозванного ли апостола или другого сего имени угодника Божия?». Основной тезис доклада сводится к тому, что летописный сюжет из «Повести временных лет» о посещении Андреем Первозванным русских земель не может быть исторически достоверным в связи с хронологическими несоответствиями; взамен апостолу историк предлагает фигуру св. Андрея Константинопольского. Этот доклад Калайдович намеревался прочитать на заседании Московского Общества истории и древностей российских в 1828 г., чему воспрепятствовали болезнь исследователя и общественная ситуация в России того времени. Сейчас черновик доклада хранится в НИОР БАН. В настоящей статье публикуется этот ранее не изданный доклад ученого как памятник истории отечественной научной мысли, снабженный предисловием, описанием рукописи и комментариями. This article is devoted to the draft manuscript of the report of Konstantin Fedorovich Kalaidovich (1792–1832) entitled “Whom does the tradition which came down to the chronicler Nestor mean by “St. Andrew”: Is it the First- Called Apostle or another Andrew?” The main thesis of the report is that the chronicle plot from “The Tale of Bygone Years” about the visit of St. Andrew the First- Called to Russian lands cannot be historically reliable, given chronological inconsistencies. The historian proposes that “St. Andrew” is Saint Andrew of Constantinople (Fool-for- Christ), in lieu of the Apostle. Kalaidovich intended to read this report at a meeting of the Moscow Society of Russian History and Antiquities in 1828, but illness and the social situation in Russia at that time prevented his visit to the meeting. In our day, the draft report is stored in the Department of Manuscripts of the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In this article, we publish Kalaidovich’s previously unpublished report as a monument to the history of Russian academic thought, providing it with a preface, a description of the manuscript, and commentaries.
Статья посвящена некоторым частным наблюдениям над поэтикой панегирика Софрония Лихуда «На заключение мира со Швецией» 1721 г. Это произведение посвящено заключению Ништадтского мирного договора между Русским царством и Швецией. По нашим предположениям, многие особенности поэтики данного текста объясняются тем, что автор преподнес свой панегирик императору во время торжественной церемонии 18 декабря 1721 г. В ходе исследования нами было выявлено многократное обращение автора к античным образам, среди которых врата бога Януса (становятся структурообразующими в композиции панегирика), личности Октавиана Августа и Александра Македонского. Одновременно ряд словесных формул, использованных автором, напрямую отсылает к богослужебным текстам Древней Руси, что способствует сакрализации образа российского императора. Наконец, финальные строки текста содержат пожелание императору военных побед в будущем, главным образом — над исламом. Это пожелание напрямую отсылает к реваншистским настроениям Петра после Азовских походов и более раннему сочинению Софрония Лихуда «Плач Святыя Христовы Восточные церкве», призывающему положить конец османской деспотии на Балканах.
This article presents a translation of the first three chapters of the work by the Austrian orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, including the preface and the complete list of sources used by the author. In addition to Hammer-Purgstall’s own notes, the publication is supplemented with notes by the translators and the editor. The article is preceded by an introductory essay written by one of the translators, O.N. Kurova, which contains a brief biography of Hammer-Purgstall, a list of his principal works, and a description of the study presented here. The History of the Khans of Crimea under Ottoman Rule constitutes a fundamental study of the Crimean Khanate during the period of its political dependence on the Ottoman Empire. To trace the political development, dynastic conflicts, external relations, and cultural life of the Khanate from the late fifteenth to the late eighteenth century, Hammer-Purgstall relies on a wide range of Turkish sources, including manuscript and printed histories, anthologies, and collections of state documents. The work is distinguished by academic rigor, profound knowledge of the Eastern historical tradition, and a commitment to an objective presentation of events that unfolded at the crossroads of Eastern and Western civilizations. In the present translation, the names of the Crimean khans have been standardized in accordance with contemporary Russian orthographic norms and follow the forms established in Russian historiographical tradition. The selection of personal name forms was based on the name index in The History of the Crimean Tatars, vol. 3: The Crimean Khanate (15th – 18th centuries).
