The cultural history of librarianship is part of the history and culture of society. The most ancient libraries in the world were the first clay catalogs of Sumerian literature, the library of Ashurbanipal, and the library of the Temple of Edfu in Egypt. In Athens, Euripides, Plato, Aristotle, Demosthenes, Euclid, and Euthydemus owned large private libraries. The first public Greek library was founded in Athens by Pasistratus. The eighth wonder of the world - the Library of Alexandria - included more than 700 thousand scrolls of handwritten books. Government officials in Alexandria confiscated all books imported into the country and sent them to the library marked “from ships.” The rulers of the city introduced a ban on the export of papyrus to stop the rapid growth of the library of Rhodes. According to legend, books from Alexandria were kept in the disappeared library of Ivan the Terrible.
Characteristic feature Roman libraries - their location in country villas. Private libraries in the II-I centuries. BC Emilius Paulus (based on the library of the Macedonian king Perseus), Sulla (based on the library of Aristotle), Lucullus (based on the library of the Pontic king Mithridates VI Eupator), Varro, Cicero, Atticus, Virgil had them. The first public library in Rome was created by Gaius Asinius Pollio in the 1st century. BC
History of Russian libraries. History of librarianship
The process of state centralization in the 17th century created the necessary conditions for the development of science, trade and industrial production, as well as the formation of the state administrative apparatus led to the formation of new types and types of libraries.
Development of libraries in Russia in the 17th century
By the middle of the 17th century, central government institutions were created in Russia - orders, under which, by state decree or order in the field of library science, special departmental libraries were organized. One of the most significant libraries was the library of the Prikaz Printing Dvor (Typographical Library), created at the beginning of the 17th century. From the book inventories of the library, it is known that in 1649 there were 148 books and manuscripts in it, and in 1679 - 637 books and manuscripts in Russian and foreign languages. By the end of the 17th century it had become the largest book depository in Russia. The funds of this library could be used not only by employees, but also by teachers of the academy, created by decree of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich in 1687.
Great library was created under the Ambassadorial Prikaz by decree of Peter I in 1696. In addition to collected books from different places, it contained books, maps, and manuscripts sent from abroad. In 1696, the collection consisted of 333 books, mainly in foreign languages. The book fund was universal, and books were issued to ambassadors and clerks in other cities. Special libraries in the 17th century had Pushkar and Apothecary orders. The first collected Russian and foreign publications on technology, military affairs, fortification, architecture, astronomy, mathematics, geometry, geography and other sciences. Books were issued to craftsmen, foundries and other persons. The founding of the first special libraries contributed to the transition to the 16th and 17th centuries. from religious to secular book collections, as well as the subsequent development of library thought in the 18th century.
Russian libraries in the 18th century
Government reforms in the sphere of politics, economics, culture and education, carried out in Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century by Emperor Peter I, had great importance and for the development of libraries. The most important event in the field of librarianship during the reign of Peter I was the establishment in 1714 in St. Petersburg of the first state scientific library in Russia, which was founded simultaneously with the Kunstkamera. Both of these institutions were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Academy of Sciences, founded in 1724. The creation of a fundamental library met the urgent needs of socio-political and cultural life Russia had great influence for the subsequent development of librarianship. The library was replenished mainly through private collections, transfers of funds from some Orders, purchases and exchanges with foreign scientific institutions. And also due to the legal deposit of literature printed in the printing house. The library's collections could be used not only by academics, but also by other scientists, statesmen and representatives of the nobility.
Handwritten books continued to be produced in medieval scriptoria. During the Renaissance, the largest library of Lorenzo de' Medici was created; The Vatican Library owned an extensive collection of ancient manuscripts and early printed books with the works of ancient authors. Currently, the largest libraries in Western Europe and America are the British Museum Library, opened in 1759, and the US Library of Congress, open year later - in 1800
The main repositories of monuments of ancient Russian writing were monastery libraries. The first library in Rus' was created in 1037 by order of Yaroslav the Wise in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The collection of books was called the “book treasury”, “archive”. The word “library” appears for the first time in the famous “Gennady Bible,” which was translated and rewritten in Novgorod in 1499. The second time the term appears in 1602 in the Solovetsky Chronicle.
By the 18th century, the first translations into Russian of Greek and Latin authors appeared in Russia - the fables of Aesop, the works of Xenophon, Curtius Rufus, Cicero, Ovid, Horace. Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, Empress Catherine II, Prince D. Golitsyn, and Count V. Tatishchev had private libraries. After the founding of the Academy of Sciences, large state libraries began to be established in St. Petersburg. Based on manuscripts and books royal library in the Kremlin and the book collection of Peter I in 1714, the Academic Library began to form, replenished by the private collections of E. Dashkova, A. Vinius, A. Pitkarn, R. Areskin.
Development of the library in the 18th century
All-Russian Library Day celebrated since 1995. On May 27, 1795, Empress Catherine II founded the Imperial Public Library - now the Russian National Library.
In the second half of the 18th century, scientific libraries that were fundamentally new for Russia in their profile were opened. In 1757, the Library of the Academy of Arts was opened in St. Petersburg; innovations in the work of this library were significant. In 1764, in its charter, Catherine II approved that outsiders could visit the library on designated days. In 1756, the repertory library of the Russian Drama Theater arose. The Volny Library was established in 1765. economic society, specializing mainly in collecting literature on economics and agriculture. It was not a state library, but a public library. In the 18th century, university libraries began operating for the first time in Russia.
By the end of the reign of Catherine II, favorable conditions had developed in Russia for organizing a public library. It was based on the library of the brothers A. S. and Yu. A. Zaluski, obtained as a trophy in Warsaw. On November 21, 1794, Catherine II signed a decree to Suvorov: to ensure the receipt of the Zaluski library and its transportation to St. Petersburg. And on May 16, 1795, the Empress, by her highest command, approved the construction project of the first building specifically designed for the library by the architect E. T. Sokolov. The Załuski library was delivered to St. Petersburg in the summer and autumn of 1795, first on carts and then by sea from Riga. There were practically no books in the Church Slavonic and Russian languages in the collection - there were only 8 of them out of 250 thousand volumes. Therefore, the Library was faced with the task of not only putting Polish books in order, but, first of all, acquiring books published in Russia and other regions in Russian and Church Slavonic languages. The first director of the library was the French emigrant, diplomat and historian M.-G. Choiseul-Gouffier.
History of libraries in the 19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, scientific and special libraries developed into more favorable conditions, how public libraries. The government allocated funds, albeit insufficient, for their maintenance. During this period, printing activity developed rapidly, which contributed to an increase in the number of books that entered academic libraries as legal deposits.
In connection with the reform of public education, five new university libraries were opened in the first half of the 19th century. Scientific libraries are also founded at the Institute of Railway Transport Engineers, the Institute of Technology, the Institute of Civil Engineers (1842) in St. Petersburg, and the vocational school (1832) in Moscow, transformed into the Higher Technical School.
The creation of universities and other educational institutions contributed to the organization of new scientific societies, in which libraries were opened. These are the Russian History and Antiquities Society, the Society of Natural Scientists, and the Mineralogical Societies in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Physico-technical, mathematical, geographical, agricultural scientific societies are opening in other cities.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the largest university library was the library of Moscow University, which contained over 20 thousand books. Among the universities opened at the beginning of this century, Kazan University stood out, whose rector was the outstanding mathematician N.I. Lobachevsky, who simultaneously served as director of the university library. As the head of the library and the university itself, he achieved a reorganization of the library acquisition system (which has since been built on a scientific basis), paying special attention to the preservation of the collection and the construction of a new building that would meet the requirements of library services. At the same time, Lobachevsky achieved the transformation of the library into a public one, in terms of serving a wide range of “outside” readers.
In the first half of the 19th century, the most valuable collection of books on Russian history in Russia was the private library of the famous Moscow public figure and collector Alexander Dmitrievich Chertkov, opened in 1862 for public use. It formed the basis of the collections of the Russian Public Historical Library. Books from the Chertkov collection were used by Russian writers and scientists: V.A. Zhukovsky, A.S. Pushkin, N.V. Gogol, M.N. Pogodin, L.N. Tolstoy and others. It was founded at the library and was published from 1863 to 1873. one of the best historical magazines of the 19th century is “Russian Archive”.
The situation of libraries in the 20th century. Development of libraries in Russia
At the beginning of the 20th century, a library system actually developed in Russia. Compared to public and people's libraries, scientific and special libraries were in a more satisfactory condition. However, they were also distinguished by a variety of types and species, a lack of systematic development, and poor interaction with each other. The reason for this was that the organization of libraries was carried out by various departments and institutions, educational institutions and scientific societies. Only for some of the libraries did the government approve general rules and statutes.
The vast majority of scientific and special libraries were located in the central part of the country, in capitals and large provincial cities. Large group scientific libraries consisted of state public, university and other university libraries, as well as libraries of the Academy of Sciences and others scientific institutions and societies. The largest of them was the national one - the Imperial Public Library; in 1917 its collection amounted to more than 2 million items. The second largest was the Library of the Academy of Sciences, whose collection in 1911 amounted to about 800 thousand volumes. The third place in the system of scientific libraries was occupied by the library of the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow, whose fund in 1917 amounted to about 1 million volumes.
The large libraries included the library of the Historical Museum. Libraries legislative institutions - State Council and the State Duma, the libraries of the Military Departments were also among the large and valuable libraries.
Development of libraries during the years of Soviet power
Already in the first years of Soviet power, the foundations were laid for a fundamentally different approach to the organization of librarianship. From the very beginning, the Soviet government devoted libraries great attention, considering them as the most important social institution. Since 1917, the state has taken full charge of the management of libraries. On July 17, 1918, a Council decree was issued people's commissars“On the protection of libraries and book depositories of the RSFSR.” In fact, he marked the beginning of the nationalization of libraries of all institutions. Not only departmental, but also private collections of over 500 books were subject to nationalization; even a scientist’s safe conduct did not allow him to have more than 2,000 volumes.
New libraries were also created on the basis of nationalized funds. In 1918, the most significant libraries in the country were formed, this is the library of the socialist Academy of Social Sciences (its fund included the libraries of the Practical Academy, the Exchange Committee, the Literary and Artistic Circle and other funds). The State Scientific, Technical and Economic Library was founded at the Scientific and Technical Department, the collection of which included the funds of the Moscow Technical Library and a number of rich book collections of professors and engineers. The funds of scientific libraries of various departments, closed and disbanded, were redistributed among various libraries.
In those scientific libraries that continued their activities in the new conditions, the main changes in the nature of their work were associated with changes in serving readers. Scientific libraries were opened to the general public, which also meant expanding the scope of services through interlibrary lending. Which led to the death of part of the collections of large scientific libraries. The further development of interlibrary loan was mainly regional in nature.
National Library of the new socialist state in accordance with the resolution of the Presidium of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR dated February 6, 1925. The State Library named after V.I. Lenin, former scientific State Rumyantsev Library. The main task of the country's national library was to collect and store all printed materials published in the country.
Lots of attention Soviet power began to devote attention to the development of library science in the regions of the country. The emergence of a number of new scientific libraries in the regions of the country was also due to the nationalization of the collections of liquidated libraries. Provincial (regional) libraries at that time were considered as scientific libraries. The structure of these libraries became more complex, and the role of reference, bibliographic and local history departments increased.
In the 20s Scientific libraries at the regional level actively sought to interact and achieve coordination. The library associations that emerged solved management problems, solved problems of acquiring foreign literature, developed cataloging instructions, compiled regional union catalogues, and exchanged doublet copies. During the 1920s there was an attempt to centralize some library operations.
In the 30s There have been more profound changes in academic libraries. This was due to changes taking place in science. There were changes in the classification of sciences, and this is how the socio-economic classification appeared. In this regard, it was necessary to restructure the work of libraries. Introduced new structure services for readers, creation of reading rooms in accordance with new classification Sci. For example, historians were separated from the network humanities.
IN historical period between the two world wars, the scale of library services at the regional and state levels changed. “The previously independent, developing “on its own” library finds itself involved in complex processes interaction between libraries." First of all, this was due to the need for corporate use of library resources, including coordination and cooperation in the field of acquisition. IN post-war period a network of scientific and special libraries was finally formed. With the rapid development of science, technology, industrial and agricultural production, the importance of scientific and special libraries in serving scientists, engineers and other specialists has increased.
To improve coordination and methodological guidance, informatization of scientific libraries at the State Library of the USSR. V.I. Lenin was entrusted with the responsibility of the all-Union methodological center for all scientific and public libraries, and the State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the USSR - for technical libraries.
In subsequent years, scientific and special libraries are growing. A number of scientific libraries of all-Union and republican significance were opened, including the Library of Natural Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences (1973), the Fundamental Library of Social Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1969 was transformed into the Institute of Scientific Information on social sciences. Universal scientific libraries underwent reorganization, in which specialized departments began to open.
Based on the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the national system of scientific and technical information” (1966), the main measures were developed for the development of universal libraries as part of the general state system scientific and technical information. The structure of scientific and technical libraries is also being improved. Sectoral central scientific and technical libraries are created under the Union ministries, which are entrusted with library and bibliographic services and methodological management of libraries in the relevant sectors. The automation and mechanization of libraries is being improved in accordance with the demands of the time, in order to quickly convey information to the consumer.
The former Library named after V.I. Lenin, the Russian State Library is today one of the largest in the world. Within its walls are domestic and foreign documents in 247 languages; The volume of the library's collection today exceeds 42 million items. One of the largest university libraries is the Library of St. Petersburg University, opened in 1819. The foundation of the library was laid by the collections of bibliophile P.F. Zhukov and academician P.B. Inokhodtsev.
Libraries are repositories of human memory, the main source of information - from ancient manuscripts to electronic resources. As academician D. Likhachev said, “libraries are the most important thing in culture... while the library is alive, the people are alive; if it dies, the past and the future will die.”
Source - www.inmoment.ru
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BELARUS
Mogilevsky state university named after A.A. KULESHOV
Abstract on the topic:
Development of libraries in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.
Completed by student
Bakhanovich Evgeniy
Mogilev, 2013
Introduction
library cultural russia
The relevance of the topic lies in the fact that the modern library, overcoming a number of specific problems of communication, everyday and social nature, is quite progressive system, which, to the best of its ability, joins the world of new technologies, masters the modern socio-cultural situation, plays one of the main roles in the process of forming a full-fledged personality, enriching itself with innovative technologies and innovations in the field of education and enlightenment.
The library as a cultural institution has attracted research attention virtually from the time it was recognized as a specific element of the life of a cultured person. It becomes necessary, which is a very important sign of autonomous spiritual life, the isolation of mental culture from the still poorly developed and undifferentiated arrays in material and spiritual cultures. Over the essence of the library, which very early begins to be understood not only as a mechanical accumulation of books, manuscripts and other documents that capture words and images, but also as a qualitatively special education in which a person realizes an ever-increasing number of his cultural needs. However, the specialist approach to the library, to librarianship is distinguished by professional limitations, understanding them in a cultural-utilitarian sense, that is, without the proper breadth of presentation of the problem itself.
1. Library structure and functions
The structure of the library is the totality of its divisions, the establishment of their subordination and relationships, the distribution of functions and powers between them. The structure depends on the type of library, its tasks, the size of the book collection, the volume and nature of the work to serve readers.
In library practice, there is a combination of linguistic, specific, sectoral, functional (or technological) structures. Most often, a combination of functional structures with industry ones is used, in particular, the creation of reading rooms and departments based on industry; from linguistics - the creation of departments of foreign and national literature; with specific views - the creation of departments of rare books and manuscripts.
The structure of libraries of the same type, with the exception of the largest ones, is unified. Libraries have a subscription service, a reading room, a children's department, and a bibliographic department. Depending on the system groups, the following departments are distinguished in libraries:
) service department,
) department of acquisition and processing of literature,
) organizational and methodological department,
) service sector for agricultural workers,
) music and music department,
) information and bibliographic department,
) youth department,
) administrative and economic department.
The main functions of the library are:
) The cumulative function of the library is realized through the collection and concentration of documents that are diverse in form, content and purpose, regardless of the time and place of their creation.
) Memorial. The essence of the memorial function is to preserve the totality collected documents for the purpose of their transmission in time and space.
) Communicative. The communicative function of the library is realized by satisfying the information and socio-cultural needs of users
) Educational,
) Scientific auxiliary,
) Production and auxiliary. Scientific support and production support functions are implemented by creating conditions for information assistance to science, economics and production.
) promoting systematic education and self-education;
) providing opportunities for creative development personalities;
introducing people to cultural heritage, the development in them of the ability to perceive art, scientific achievements;
) Leisure. The leisure function of the library is implemented by creating conditions for organizing intellectual leisure.
The state of librarianship in the first half of the 19th century
In the first half of the 19th century in Russia, the decomposition of feudal-serf relations intensified, and capitalist ideas gained strength. The growth of education, printing and book trade creates the necessary preconditions for the further development of librarianship. The spread of literacy contributed to an increase in the number of readers from the merchants, philistines, and commoners.
The tsarist government, prompted by the development of productive forces, is taking measures to open scientific, educational and other special libraries. However, the need to open public libraries was acutely felt, but the tsarism, fearing the spread of anti-government views, limited this activity, and supervision over book printing, book trade and the state of library collections was strengthened.
The Ministry of Spiritual Affairs and Public Education formed a scientific committee, one of whose tasks was to recommend books for libraries of educational institutions; public libraries could only purchase books published by its printing house. In 1824, as a result of an audit of the libraries of educational institutions, hundreds of books “against faith, government and morality” were burned. Religious and mystical books became widespread, and since 1826 church and parish libraries have been opened everywhere.
Fearing that public libraries could be used to “divulge harmful rumors” or “commit any evil intentions” against the autocracy, the government established strict control over them and allowed them to be opened only with voluntary donations from citizens. In 1850, the right of scientific libraries to freely receive foreign publications from abroad was abolished. As a result of the increased supervision of the government of Nicholas I, many public libraries ceased to exist.
Commercial libraries and reading rooms were also subjected to censorship and gendarmerie repression. As a result of the audits, many owners of these institutions were arrested and subjected to repression.
Scientific and special libraries developed somewhat more successfully in these years, their number at educational institutions increased, by the beginning of the 30s in Russia there were 62 gymnasium libraries and several dozen libraries at district schools. The libraries of the Institute of Railway Engineers opened, Institute of Technology, Institute of Civil Engineers in St. Petersburg, vocational school in Moscow. Scientific libraries were formed under scientific societies- Society of Russian History and Antiquities, Society of Natural Scientists, Mineralogical Society in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Five new university libraries were opened in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Kharkov, Dorpat, Kyiv, which had the right to freely check out books and periodicals from abroad, but the acquisition of their collections was carried out haphazardly and depended mainly on voluntary donations. The funds of university libraries could be used mainly by professors and university staff; special “state” libraries were created for students, stocked mainly with textbooks and reference books under the strict supervision of the government.
Public libraries in the first half of the 19th century were institutions that were inaccessible to the population, did not satisfy the growing demands of readers and did not fulfill their purpose as a national library.
Commercial libraries and reading rooms are still being opened, but in smaller numbers; the most famous was the library of A.F., opened in 1815. Smirdin, which became a kind of literary club for writers of that time.
On the initiative of the population in some provincial and district towns in the first quarter of the 19th century, public public libraries appeared, clubs and societies for reading lovers were organized, whose members subscribed to books and periodicals at their own expense. The governors who were responsible for the activities of libraries and the nobles had a lack of initiative in this activity, as a result of which many Russian cities are still for many years were left without this cultural institution.
In total, instead of the expected 52, 31 provincial public libraries were opened, 8 in district cities (See table).
The situation in the library sector in the 1st half of the 19th century
AreaIt was supposed to openOpened in the early 50sProvinceDistrictRussia321867Ukraine10822Belarus42-1Baltic states41--Caucasus11-1Moldova11-1Total5231812
As a rule, libraries served readers both through subscription and reading rooms. However, cramped premises and high reading fees did not contribute to the influx of new readers.
The policy of repression, administrative and censorship supervision of libraries had an extremely negative impact on the state of library science in Russia. The government practically did not allow the widespread development of public libraries in provincial and district cities, depriving them of funds of outstanding works on socio-political topics, thereby causing reactionary ideas among the population.
The largest libraries in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.
The largest library in Russia in the first half of the 19th century was the Imperial Public Library. The second largest was the Library of the Academy of Sciences. The third place in the system of scientific libraries was occupied by the library of the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow.
The Imperial Public Library, which has existed since 1814, is based on the Warsaw library of the Zalusski brothers, which was transported to St. Petersburg after the capture of Warsaw in 1794, in the amount of up to 250 thousand books. Currently, the library contains up to 1,300,000 volumes. Despite its recent origins, it is second in wealth only to Paris National Library and the British Museum. From its very foundation, all books published in Russia (in 2 copies) have been delivered to the library, and books published earlier are, if possible, acquired through antiquarian means. Thanks to this, the library contains, without exception, all Russian theological literature published after the founding of the library, and, with rare exceptions, literature published before that time from early XVIII century. There is no catalog of Russian books. The department of foreign theological literature is also very rich: the first founders of the library were devout Catholics, and subsequently this department was regularly replenished. The Rossica department contains almost all foreign literature relating to Russia. Systematic catalogs are periodically published for foreign books. The department of manuscripts, especially Greek ones, is no less interesting.
Particularly important in this department is the collection of palimpsests brought from the east by Tishevdorf, as well as the recently acquired collections of Greek parchment manuscripts by Rev. Porfiry and Nikolaidis. Among the Greek manuscripts, the library has the Codex Sinaiticus of the Bible of the 4th century and the Codex Purpuraeus of the New Testament of the 6th century. In the department of oriental manuscripts there are Jewish (including the “code of the prophets” of 916 and the complete codex of the Bible of 1009 from the rich Firkovich collection), Samaritan, Ethiopian, Coptic, Georgian. Related descriptions: E, de Muralt, “Catal. codicum B. I. P. graecorum”, his “Catalogue de manuscrits grecs de la B. I. P.”; Dorn, "Cat. de man.etxylographes orentaux.”, Harkavy, “Description of the Samaritan Manuscripts,” Harkavyund Straec, “Catalog der hebraischen Bibelhandschriften.” The department of Slavic-Russian manuscripts and early printed books is very rich; it included the richest collections of private individuals, such as. gr. F. Tolstoy, M.P. Pogodin, Kasterin, Karataeva, Karabanova, Sokurov, Sakharov, Karamzin, Hilferding, Trekhletov, Gundobin and others. Descriptions of Slavic manuscripts were compiled by Kalaidovich, Stroev, Undolsky, A. Viktorov, A.F. Bychkov and I.A. Bychkov. Since 1851, the Imperial Public Library has published annual reports on its status.
The basis of the Library of the Academy of Sciences was a collection of books of theological, historical and medical content, captured as war booty in 1714 in Courland (approx. 2,000 books). In 1770, the library already had 40,000 volumes. In 1842 a library was added to it Russian Academy, and now the library consists of two departments: Russian and foreign. The library of printed Russian books is very rich, since by law it receives all books published in Russia (in 1 copy). In foreign books, the theological department is relatively poor, due to the fact that there is no theologian among the academicians in charge of purchasing books; The same cannot be said about the church history department. Of the handwritten collections received by the library, Feofan Prokopovich and Tatishchev are especially remarkable. Catalogs were compiled by Backmeister (St. Petersburg, 1779), Sokolov (“Detailed catalog of handwritten books Holy Scripture, instructive and touching on sacred history”... St. Petersburg. 1818, “Detailed catalog of theological books of church and civil press”; for new acquisitions has only the “Catalogue des nouvelles acquisitions..., pendant l"anuee”. Next should be mentioned the libraries of universities: Moscow (more than 300,000 volumes), Warsaw (the same number), Helsingfors (receives a copy of all books published in Russia and Finland), Yuryevsky (more than 250,000 tons), Kazan (among other books and manuscripts of Archbishop Eugene Bulgaris), Kyiv (about 170,000 tons), Novorossiysk (about 120,000 tons), St. Petersburg (about 180,000 tons. ), Kharkovsky (approx. 170,000 volumes); library of the Society of Russian History and Antiquities in Moscow (catalogues compiled by Kachenovsky and Korkunov in 1827 and Stroev in 1845), library of the Main Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (catalogues - Tokmakov); : Vilenskaya (Dobryansky catalogue), Odessa, Simbirskaya, etc. and finally the libraries of private individuals, interesting mainly for their handwritten riches; among the libraries of this kind, the following are especially remarkable: Count S. Uvarov in the village of Porechye, I. Vakhrameev in Yaroslavl, A. Titov in Rostov.
The library of the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow is based on the book collection of gr. N.P. Rumyantsev, transferred to the government in 1827 and in 1861 transported from St. Petersburg to Moscow. Now the library has 300 thousand volumes. The main interest is the department of Slavic manuscripts; In addition to the richest collection of Rumyantsev, manuscript libraries were received here: gr. Lansky, Undolsky, Piskarev, A. Khitrovo, I. Lukashevich, N. Popov (manuscripts related to the schism), A. Norov, I. Belyaev, V. Grigorovich, A. Viktorov and others. Descriptions compiled by Vostokov, Undolsky, Viktorov. As for printed books, the precious library is of particular interest to the theologian famous traveler in the East A.S. Norova (14,000 volumes), which contains many books on church history and especially travel to the Holy Land. See Reports of the Rumyantsev Museum since 1861.
Development of university libraries in the first half of the 19th century. Library activities of N.I. Lobachevsky
The end of the 18th and first half of the 19th century in Russia was a period of decomposition of the feudal-serf system and the development within its depths of new, capitalist relations. The growth of industry, the increase in the number of factories and factories, the expansion of domestic and foreign trade, as well as the gradual involvement of the landed estates in commodity relations inevitably led to a crisis of the feudal-serf system. Russia was increasingly taking the path of capitalist development.
The tsarist government, adapting to new socio-economic relations, was forced to carry out reforms in the field of education, education and the press, expand the network of higher and secondary educational institutions, and open new and special libraries.
At the beginning of the 19th century in Russia, the charter of universities and the charter of educational institutions were put into effect, marking the beginning of the creation of a state system of public education. The development of education and the publication of books created the necessary preconditions for the further growth of librarianship in the country. The spread of literacy contributed to an increase in the number of readers, the formation of reading circles from among the merchants, philistines, and commoners.
In connection with the reform of public education in Russia, the network of libraries at educational institutions has significantly expanded. By the beginning of the 30s, there were already 62 gymnasium libraries in Russia, and a number of libraries existed at district schools. The further growth of technical and other special educational institutions contributed to the development of a network of relevant libraries. So, in the first half of the 19th century, in connection with the discovery of new special schools and institutes, the libraries of the Institute of Railway Engineers, the Institute of Technology, the Institute of Civil Engineers and others are being created.
In connection with the development of science and the opening of universities in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, university libraries began to emerge. In the first half of the 19th century, five new university libraries were opened - in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Kharkov, Dorpat and Kyiv. The oldest and most significant was the library of Moscow University, opened in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century had over 20,000 volumes.
University libraries, as stated in the university charter of 1804, were created for the dissemination of science and education . The head or librarian was elected by the university council from among the professors. In addition, an assistant was appointed from adjuncts or masters. The government granted universities the right to freely issue books and periodicals from abroad. Foreign publications were directly supplied to university libraries, making it possible for the latter to acquire prohibited works, although their use was strictly controlled. University libraries were located at state budget. And although in 1837 the amount for the maintenance of libraries was increased, university libraries experienced an acute shortage of funds, which negatively affected the acquisition of book collections. Universities were deprived of the opportunity to timely and required quantity, acquire current scientific literature and periodicals. The replenishment of the book collections of many university libraries occurred unsystematically, was of a random nature and depended mainly on voluntary donations. The libraries of provincial universities often lacked publications necessary for scientific work. Even according to official data, some university libraries in the first quarter of the 19th century were quite extensive but insufficient and random collections of books .
The growth of university library collections can be traced from the following data. In 1825, the library of Moscow University consisted of about 30 thousand volumes, Kharkov University - about 17 thousand. By the end of the first half of the 19th century, the largest book fund in terms of size were: the library of Kyiv University (over 88 thousand volumes), Moscow University (about 85 thousand). volumes), Dorpat (over 83 thousand), Kharkov (over 50 thousand volumes), Kazan (47 thousand) and St. Petersburg (about 40 thousand volumes). In university libraries there was great job on the organization, cataloging and classification of the book collection, on the development of original library classification systems. The departmental system of arrangement of book collections used in Western European universities was not satisfied; librarians at Russian universities used their own classification systems. So, in 1826, librarian F.F. Flight published Location of the Moscow University Library . This classification had 10 main divisions, each of which was divided into 2 subordinate concepts, which were divided into 2 new ones, etc. However, Reis' system received a negative assessment from Russian librarians and was not widely used. All university libraries had handwritten catalogs of the book collection, some of them were compiled on cards and were called mobile . Separate university libraries (Moscow and Kazan universities) published printed catalogues. The organization of reader services in university libraries had significant shortcomings. The library's collections could be used primarily by professors and university staff. Only some libraries (Moscow, Kazan and Kyiv University) had a public character and were open to “outside” readers. The rules of university libraries and other higher educational institutions strictly prohibited the lending of books to readers who did not belong to universities. Student services were unsatisfactorily organized. Access to the fundamental, or main, university library was denied to students or deliberately hampered by various formalities and restrictions. By order of the government, special funds, the so-called state student libraries, were created for students at universities. These libraries were equipped only with reference books, textbooks, dictionaries, etc. Purchase of others, outsiders books and periodicals. Not to mention the progressive Russian and foreign literature. Very popular among advanced students, it was prohibited. In the first half of the 19th century, the outstanding Russian mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky took an active part in the fundamental library of Kazan University. There is, perhaps, no literate person in our country who has not heard the name of this great mathematician, the creator of the new non-Euclidean geometry. Descendants rightly compare him with Christopher Columbus, then with Nicolaus Copernicus. But during his lifetime, Lobachevsky’s genius was not recognized; his main work was subjected to harsh criticism and ridicule. The scientist remained crazy weirdo , Kazan madmen .
He graduated from Lobachevsky University in 1811 with the title of master. Scientific creativity began - a period of full disclosure of a rich and multifaceted personality. December 1819, extraordinary professor, court councilor Nikolai Lobachevsky, together with professor E.O. Varderamo was appointed to special committee to check the proper organization and order of the university library . But Varderamo soon resigned from the university, and Lobachevsky remained the only member of the special. committee. It was a difficult period for Kazan University. District Trustee Magnitsky, who was looking for traces of godlessness and freethinking in everything, had just finished cleaning student library from godless And books that are against morality: they were burned at the stake. The same fate awaited the main library. On special the committee was entrusted with the responsibility confiscate and destroy books that are contrary to morality or generally disagree with the divine principle .
For the sake of saving priceless books, old grievances between the student Lobachevsky and the court were forgotten. inspector Kondyrev, now a professor and librarian at the university. Showing great civic courage, he managed to carry out and hide in the house of adjunct professor Khalfin the most dangerous books. There were no catalogs then. The scattered inventories of books were such a confusing matter that it was impossible to figure it out. But the disorder, which always irritated Lobachevsky, at that time only made him happy: without fear of inspection, it was easy to isolate everything that needed to be saved. October 1825 The University Council assigned the position of librarian to N.I. Lobachevsky, but only on February 19, 1826 he was approved in it. However, due to the fact that the library was still in an extremely neglected state, he could not begin to perform his duties for more than a year and was even forced to turn to the Council with the question: How can I ever accept a library and from whom?
N.I. Lobachevsky was elected rector on May 3, 1827, immediately after the liberation of the Kazan educational district and university from the fatal seven-year guardianship, from the oppressive guardianship of the unrivaled obscurantist Magnitsky. One can imagine in what a difficult situation, which required enormous effort, the initial days and weeks of Nikolai Ivanovich’s work in this post passed. But at the same time, he did not resign from his duties as a university librarian, considering this duty to be of exceptional importance and sacred. Essentially, only after being elected rector could he begin to actually manage the library. He worked as a librarian for more than 10 years, almost until the end of 1837, when the construction of a magnificent library building for those times with a three-tier book depository and spacious reading rooms was completed. Everyone who knew Lobachevsky was amazed by the breadth of his knowledge and extraordinary erudition. Many years of reading experience helped him thoroughly study the structure of libraries and the organization of library science in St. Petersburg, Dorpat, and Moscow. His approach to library issues was sometimes original. Here presentation to the Board of Kazan University on the structure of the library dated April 30, 1825 , made by Lobachevsky even before his appointment as a librarian: The structure of a library requires paying attention to space, costs, making it convenient for the librarian to serve the reader, and, finally, to the beauty of appearance. The last requirement is inferior to the first as essential; but the decorations of the library cannot be neglected either, in the intention that everything that serves for enlightenment, in addition to internal dignity, should be dressed in an attractive appearance and thereby support love in the sciences and a high opinion of them... .
It is interesting that N.I. Lobachevsky fully implemented the construction of the library building. From the very first month of his work as rector-librarian, Nikolai Ivanovich persistently advocated for the safety of the library collection. He demanded the return of the missing books and magazines, regardless of faces. Lobachevsky acquired the first books for Kazan University, not yet being a librarian, in 1821. This summer, he was on vacation in St. Petersburg and received instructions from the Magnitsky district trustee to purchase equipment for a physics laboratory and books on mathematics for the library. Lobachevsky selected the necessary mathematical works in the bookstores of Saint-Florent and V. Gref. His report to Magnitsky dated September 8, 1821 speaks volumes about how responsibly he approached the selection of purchased literature: I am ready to present the lists of books I have selected, as soon as I receive an order from you to do so. However, I cannot guarantee that all the books I designated for purchase could usefully serve as a guide in teaching, for many of them were not read by me, but were known only to me from references to them by other writers or seemed important to me because of their titles. In order to make an unmistakable choice and save useless expenses of the treasury, I consider it necessary to first review them myself, which will take about a month of time .
Already in 1821, Lobachevsky put forward the most important principle for acquiring a library, without which the development of scientific thought is impossible: the need for timely acquisition of the latest works and, above all, the most important scientific periodicals: ... the other part contains equally necessary books, but which the booksellers here could not find. These are mostly academic notes, very expensive publications, which the university should especially try to acquire as the creations of the most famous men of learning. So that teaching at the university goes along with the enlightenment of the whole of Europe, so that the learned people who make up the universities are allowed to work on improving science, it is necessary that the university be notified of the enterprises and successes of their men, it is necessary that it read modern notes .
Having become a librarian, Lobachevsky develops special rules, which were necessary to guide the acquisition of library collections: So that the essays complement the shortcomings of others recognized as useful in teaching and already in the university library. When assigning newly published books, preference should be given to those works that have gained fame in the scientific world. So that the works are up-to-date. So that they contain not only individual and particular discoveries, sometimes subject to doubt, but also discoveries that have already been brought into the system and which were the reasons for the useful transformation of science. So that main goal when choosing books there was benefit for teaching science at the university. Lobachevsky's requirements for completing the library, the latest works, the most fundamental scientific works and in general books that bring benefits for science teaching , have retained their significance to this day; they are still relevant today for any university library. To ensure high-quality acquisition of the library's collections, Lobachevsky developed a clear system for collecting preliminary applications for the necessary scientific and educational literature from all faculties, departments and teachers of the university. Once a year, in the summer, after classes ended, all teachers were required to submit lists of books that it would be desirable to purchase during the next academic year. As a result of such a system, all university teachers took part in the acquisition of the library, thereby achieving a high-quality replenishment of its collections in all branches of knowledge. It should be noted that Lobachevsky sought to fulfill all requests not only from professors and adjuncts of the university, but also from beginning, very young teachers. Lobachevsky is credited with organizing a clear system for quickly obtaining the latest foreign publications. In the first years of the university’s existence, foreign publications were subscribed to from time to time, and everything depended only on the energy of a particular professor interested in the book. During the period of Magnitsky’s trusteeship, the collection of foreign publications virtually ceased; questions of European scientists were solely resolved by the trustee. Only under Lobachevsky was the randomness in the selection of foreign publications replaced by a system that allowed the library to receive any the right book regardless of where it was published. No less interested and careful than in scientific literature, Lobachevsky completed the collections of the library with the best works of Russian literature. So, on November 17, 1828, he offers to purchase Evgenia Onegina , Bakhchisarai fountain , Gypsy , Ruslana and Lyudmila and other works of Pushkin, which recognized as classics and, constituting an era in Russian literature, would have long ago deserved to be acquired for it . Lobachevsky's proposal was not approved, but already on April 3, 1829, he bought some of Pushkin's works. The above data convincingly indicates that almost all newly published works were immediately acquired by Lobachevsky for the library of Kazan University. It should be noted that Pushkin’s books were no exception, and the same was the case with all the best examples of Russian literature. If scientific literature and foreign publications were ordered through the count's commission agent, then works of Russian literature, as a rule, were directly selected by Lobachevsky in Glazunov's Kazan bookstore. Sometimes in his presentation to the council Lobachevsky gave brief description books, showing that new literary works purchased for the library were previously read by him. Lobachevsky closely followed all the new releases in Russian literature and, if they were not in the Kazan bookstore, he ordered books from St. Petersburg. Lobachevsky paid great attention to historical works in general, works on Russian history - in particular. Lobachevsky highly valued encyclopedias, various dictionaries and indexes, bibliographic aids, knowing full well that they were necessary for both the scientist and the librarian. The subject of Lobachevsky’s constant concern was the acquisition of the library’s oriental collections, which is quite understandable. It was in the thirties of the 19th century that the oriental faculty of Kazan University began to develop rapidly; on the initiative of Lobachevsky, new departments were organized and opened. A large number of valuable Chinese and Manchu manuscripts, woodcuts and printed books came to the library as a result of one of the trips to Buryatia and China, which was organized on the initiative of Lobachevsky. The purposeful acquisition of oriental literature in the fund continued in subsequent years. Lobachevsky also paid great attention to the acquisition of publications for past odes that were not in the library’s collections, including the purchase of ancient and rare books, manuscripts, engravings, maps, and plans. The main way of acquiring publications from previous years, used under Lobachevsky, is the acquisition of personal libraries, the purchase of books from private individuals. Lobachevsky managed to make an interesting acquisition in 1829. So, offering to buy from the peasant Ivan Nikonov Apostle , published in 1567 by Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets, the first Russian dated book, he writes: This book, being the first to be printed in Moscow, is important for the university library as a monument to the typographic art of that time .
It should be noted that the acquisition of personal libraries, especially large ones, required significant effort from the librarian. First of all, it was difficult to compare the list of literature offered for purchase with the library catalogs: after all, at that time there was no single alphabetical or documentary catalog in the Kazan University library. One more detail of the library’s collections can be noted. We are talking about the desire to acquire for the library such publications that would be of interest not only to teachers and students of the university, but also to any of its visitors. The most important source of acquisition of funds under Lobachevsky was subscription to foreign and domestic newspapers and magazines. Lobachevsky rightly emphasized the importance of timely receipt of scientific periodicals, so that teaching at the university goes along with the education of the whole of Europe . During the period of his librarianship, international book exchange began. The first to maintain contact with the Kazan University library was the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Initially, the library transferred money through the Russian embassy for publications of this society, then English editions on Oriental studies began to be sent to the library free of charge in exchange for publications of the corresponding profile of Kazan University. Lobachevsky approached the issue of creating and organizing university library catalogs no less carefully than he did with the collection of collections. By the time he was chosen as the university librarian, a single catalog for all library collections did not yet exist. The library had five separate catalogs: the book collection received from the gymnasium in 1807, the Frank library, the Zimnyakov library, as well as the so-called new And the newest libraries. The quality of these catalogs was very unsatisfactory, and Lobachevsky knew this very well. In 1821, Lobachevsky was already convinced of the need to create a single catalog for all library collections, compiled on the basis uniform requirements. Therefore, in October 1826, when the library’s reception had not yet actually been completed, he turned to the university council with a special proposal on the need to compile a unified documentary catalog for all the library’s holdings. Then he first forms his demand for descriptions of books: so that the title is copied from the books as it should be, i.e. their contents, edition, place of printing and time thereof, also the number of prints in the books in which they are located . In November of the same year, Lobachevsky's thoughts about library catalogs were further developed. IN next performance the university council, he comes to the conclusion that the university library should have three catalogues: documentary, systematic in sciences And alphabetical for librarian's guide . The University Council approved Lobachevsky's proposal, but neither in 1826 nor in 1827. the board was unable to allocate any funds to begin work on creating catalogs. Only in January 1828, after repeated representations and petitions from Lobachevsky, the necessary funds were allocated and work began on creating a unified documentary catalog for all library collections. Work on creating the catalog continued under the direct supervision of Lobachevsky for over seven years. Only in 1937 was a complete documentary catalog of all library collections compiled. This catalog has been preserved; today it is the initial inventory books of the so-called fund. If you look at it carefully, you can easily see that many of the principles of describing books introduced by Lobachevsky are still applied today. The order of the university board dated September 30, 1833, drawn up by the rector and librarian Lobachevsky, clearly defined the purpose of the documentary catalogue: The documentary catalog must present a detailed and accurate description of books, prints, manuscripts, dissertations and, in general, everything that constitutes the scientific property of the library .
Unlike similar catalogs of other libraries, the documentary catalog of the Kazan University Library was very detailed and provided information not only about the author of the book, its full and exact title, place and year of publication, volume, format, number of drawings, price, but also, on what occasion did the book come to the library, from whom exactly and according to what instructions .
Lobachevsky approached the issue of creating a systematic catalog no less seriously than creating a documentary one. He carefully studied the existing classification schemes of sciences. The fact that the practical development of a classification scheme for sciences had already begun before 1828 is also evidenced by the report on the work of the library: The much-needed correspondence and combination of all the separate catalogs into one common one and even the compilation of a solid systematic arrangement for all works were undertaken. . Subsequently, in 1828-1834, the main work on the development of a classification scheme for sciences, called Location plan of the Kazan University library , conducted by assistant librarian Voigt. General development management Plan carried out by Lobachevsky. In 1834, work on compiling Plan was completed. Plan stipulated that the alphabetical catalog should be kept on separate sheets (large format cards), divided into four columns: The first displays the document catalog number; in second - literature and systematic catalog number; in the third - the title of the book according to the rules set out in the documentary catalogue, only in an abbreviated form; in the fourth - the number of bindings .
Chapter about the systematic catalog , precedes the presentation of the new scheme classification and contains a number of fundamental provisions that allow one to judge the views of Lobachevsky and Voigt. This section begins with the same detailed regulation of the rules for maintaining a systematic catalog, as was done with respect to the documentary and alphabetical catalogues: A systematic catalog must be mobile . Book titles are written on separate sheets . These sheets are divided into four columns, in which the first indicates the letter of the department to which the book belongs, and the number to which it fits in it; in the second column the title of the book is written according to the rules adopted in the documentary catalogue; V third - number bindings; in the fourth - the number of the documentary catalog etc. As the rector of the university, Lobachevsky personally entered into the affairs of all decisions of the Council and the Board concerning the library, registered new receipts, noting their numbers, cost, etc. . I tried my best to create a real scientific library. The work was painstaking, exhausting, taking a lot of time and effort. In the opinion of many researchers and scientists, there was no other rector in the history of university education in Russia who so deeply understood the meaning of the book, the importance of the library, was so brilliantly versed in the issues of library science and did so much for its development. Conclusion Library like cultural phenomenon existed for many centuries, changing and transforming externally and internally. Her main function was the preservation and dissemination of knowledge. To this were added various aspects of existential content and differences in understanding the essence of the library in one or another period of the history and culture of society. Thus, libraries of the past were in in a certain sense elite institutions, and this gives grounds to talk about the superiority of modern public libraries. Previously, they were small in number, their collections were several orders of magnitude inferior to those of modern libraries, and the same can be said about readers. Moreover, in the past, the library was primarily a state institution and carried out its policies in the spiritual life of society. But at the same time, it was a kind of space of freedom precisely because there was something forbidden, regulated from above. Study of the library as a unique disciplinary space in which certain rules and norms of behavior, also reveals not only negative, but also positive values of the past library culture. Understanding the history of the library and giving it the status of an important component of cultural history is main task modern library science. List of used literature 1. Abramov K.I. History of librarianship in the USSR: textbook. Benefit / K.I. Abramov. - 3rd ed., expanded. and additional - M.: Book, 1980. - 352 p. Berestova T.F. Libraries in overcoming information barriers / T.F. Berestova // Library science. - 2005. - No. 1. - P. 53-56. Grikhanov Yu.A. What everyone needs to know about the library / Yu.A. Grikhanov. - M.: Book, 1987. - 80 p. Kartashov N.S. General library science: Textbook. IN part / N.S. Kartashov, V.V. Skvortsov. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1997. - Part 2. - 256 p. Motulsky R.S. Library as a social institution / R. S. Motulsky; Mos. state University of Culture. - M., 2002. - 374 p. Slukhovsky M.I., Librarianship in Russia before the 20th century. - M., 1968.
In 2002, the 140th anniversary of the Russian State Library was celebrated. Its history began with the transfer of the Rumyantsev Museum from St. Petersburg to Moscow. The State Chancellor of Russia, Count Nikolai Petrovich Rumyantsev (1754-1826), collected his collection all his life. This collection contained more than 28 thousand books, manuscripts, ethnographic and archaeological materials, coins, minerals, paintings, and sculpture. Now the books and manuscripts are kept in the RSL with the chancellor’s handwritten inscription “Take care of like your eyes.” And during Rumyantsev’s life, the collection was located in his mansion on the English Embankment (now here is the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg); V set hours everyone could see it.
N.P. Rumyantsev died without leaving a will. Fulfilling the oral will of the count, his brother transferred the collection to the state “for the benefit of the Fatherland and good enlightenment.” Since 1831, the state Rumyantsev Museum was operating in the mansion on the English Embankment. In 1845 it became a branch of the Imperial Public Library. However, the Museum was in poverty; no money was allocated for its maintenance. By the end of the 50s. the buildings transferred to the state by Rumyantsev were very dilapidated; all attempts by the head of the museum V.F. Odoevsky to get money for repairs was in vain. M.A. Korff, director of the Imperial Public Library, which ran the museum, was also unable to do anything. He hoped that when the buildings were sold, part of the money would go to the library (that’s exactly what happened). The high authorities decided to transfer the museum's collections to Moscow. In 1862, the Rumyantsev Museum was located in its center, in the most beautiful mansion Pashkov House (which still houses part of the holdings of the Russian State Library.
Together with the exhibits of the Rumyantsev Museum, thousands of volumes of Russian and foreign books from the doublets of the Imperial Public Library and from other St. Petersburg libraries were sent to Moscow. In 1862, the first public museum in Moscow opened, which included the first free public library. The museum also included departments for manuscripts, rare books, Christian and Russian antiquities, fine arts, ethnographic, numismatic, archaeological, and mineralogical.
The bulk of the readers of the Rumyantsev Museum library were students, officials, teachers of secondary and lower educational institutions, doctors, engineers and technicians, and accountants. Among the readers of the first public library of Moscow L.N. Tolstoy, F.M. Dostoevsky, A.P. Chekhov, V.G. Korolenko, K.A. Timiryazev, D.I. Mendeleev, K.E. Tsiolkovsky. Over the years, the number of female readers has increased. These were students, teachers of secondary and lower educational institutions, artists, writers, doctors, paramedics, midwives, masseuses, employees of city and zemstvo institutions.
The largest of the university libraries in the first half of the 19th century. there were Moscow and St. Petersburg. The library of Kazan University also stood out, whose rector, the outstanding mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky, also served as director of the library.
In 1830 In different regions of Russia, provincial and district libraries are beginning to be created. One of the initiators of this activity was the President of the Free Economic Society, Admiral Nikolai Semenovich Mordvinov. “Public libraries for reading,” he wrote, “are established in the provinces for the purpose of disseminating, as far as possible, general education everywhere, especially useful information related to the locality of each region. At his suggestion, in 1830, the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered all governors to convene a meeting of “representatives of the nobility, directors of gymnasiums and generally zealots of education, both from among the nobility and merchants, in order to jointly find funds for the establishment of libraries.” Over the next decades, more than 30 libraries were opened, primarily where the idea was supported by governors and local nobility.
In 1836, the provincial library was opened in Vyatka. At its opening, A.I., who was here in exile, spoke. Herzen. He said: “The library is an open table of ideas, to which everyone is invited, at which everyone will find the food that he seeks; this is a reserve store where some people put their thoughts and discoveries, while others take them for growth.”
A major role in the formation of public library collections was played by the famous book publisher, owner of the famous bookstore Alexey Filippovich Smirdin. He selected for each library a set of more than 1000 books, mainly works by Russian and foreign classics, which could be purchased at a deep discount.
In the 70-90s. XIX century no more than 23% of printed materials published in the country were allowed into Russian educational and public libraries. Preference was given to official and ideologically impeccable publications. The main motives for the prohibitions are “inconsistency with the spiritual needs of children and the people” (characteristically, an equal sign was placed between them), “depiction of suffering,” “despondency,” “lack of positive principles.”
By the beginning of the twentieth century. The Russian Empire was a great book power. In addition to large book depositories open to readers, the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg, founded in 1814, the library of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (created a hundred years before), the library of the Rumyantsev Museum (1862), the synodal, patriarchal, libraries of scientific communities (Russian Geographical Society, Free Economic Society, etc.), there were many libraries in the country at universities and secondary educational institutions; each provincial town and large district towns had their own public libraries; the network of military libraries was large; libraries of theological academies; finally, there were a lot of “people’s libraries” in the country, in particular those created by zemstvos; To this must be added the numerous private commercial “reading libraries.” And although there was censorship in Russia, and the government from time to time tried to regulate the book collections in the “people's reading rooms” and even closed some of them if they served as hotbeds of revolutionary subversive propaganda, in fact, almost any book, both Russian and and foreign, in principle, was available to the interested reader.
The end of the 18th and first half of the 19th century in Russia was a period of decomposition of the feudal-serf system and the development within its depths of new, capitalist relations. The growth of industry, the increase in the number of factories and factories, the expansion of domestic and foreign trade, as well as the gradual involvement of the landed estates in commodity relations inevitably led to a crisis of the feudal-serf system. Russia was increasingly taking the path of capitalist development.
The tsarist government, adapting to new socio-economic relations, was forced to carry out reforms in the field of education, education and the press, expand the network of higher and secondary educational institutions, and open new and special libraries.
At the beginning of the 19th century in Russia, the charter of universities and the charter of educational institutions were put into effect, marking the beginning of the creation of a state system of public education. The development of education and the publication of books created the necessary preconditions for the further growth of librarianship in the country. The spread of literacy contributed to an increase in the number of readers, the formation of reading circles from among the merchants, philistines, and commoners.
In connection with the reform of public education in Russia, the network of libraries at educational institutions has significantly expanded. By the beginning of the 30s, there were already 62 gymnasium libraries in Russia, and a number of libraries existed at district schools. The further growth of technical and other special educational institutions contributed to the development of a network of relevant libraries. Thus, in the first half of the 19th century, in connection with the opening of new special schools and institutes, libraries of the Institute of Railway Engineers, the Institute of Technology, the Institute of Civil Engineers and others were created.
In connection with the development of science and the opening of universities in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, university libraries began to emerge. In the first half of the 19th century, five new university libraries were opened - in St. Petersburg, Kazan, Kharkov, Dorpat and Kyiv. The oldest and most significant was the library of Moscow University, opened in the 18th century and at the beginning of the 19th century had over 20,000 volumes.
University libraries, as stated in the university charter of 1804, were created for the dissemination of science and education. The head or librarian was elected by the university council from among the professors. In addition, an assistant was appointed from adjuncts or masters. The government granted universities the right to freely issue books and periodicals from abroad. Foreign publications were directly supplied to university libraries, making it possible for the latter to acquire prohibited works, although their use was strictly controlled.
University libraries were supported by the state budget. And although in 1837 the amount for the maintenance of libraries was increased, university libraries experienced an acute shortage of funds, which negatively affected the acquisition of book collections. Universities were deprived of the opportunity to acquire current scientific literature and periodicals in a timely manner and in the required quantity. The replenishment of the book collections of many university libraries occurred unsystematically, was of a random nature and depended mainly on voluntary donations. The libraries of provincial universities often lacked publications necessary for scientific work. Even according to official data, some university libraries in the first quarter of the 19th century had quite extensive, but insufficient and random collections of books.
The growth of university library collections can be traced from the following data. In 1825, the library of Moscow University consisted of about 30 thousand volumes, Kharkov University - about 17 thousand. By the end of the first half of the 19th century, the largest book fund in terms of size were: the library of Kyiv University (over 88 thousand volumes), Moscow University (about 85 thousand). volumes), Dorpat (over 83 thousand), Kharkov (over 50 thousand volumes), Kazan (47 thousand) and St. Petersburg (about 40 thousand volumes).
In university libraries, a lot of work was carried out on the organization, cataloging and classification of the book collection, on the development of original library classification systems. The departmental system of arrangement of book collections used in Western European universities was not satisfied; librarians at Russian universities used their own classification systems. So, in 1826, librarian F.F. Reis published the Location of the Moscow University Library. This classification had 10 main divisions, each of which was divided into 2 subordinate concepts, which were divided into 2 new ones, etc. However, Reis' system received a negative assessment from Russian librarians and was not widely used.
All university libraries had handwritten catalogs of the book collection, some of them were compiled on cards and were called mobile. Separate university libraries (Moscow and Kazan universities) published printed catalogues.
The organization of reader services in university libraries had significant shortcomings. The library's collections could be used primarily by professors and university staff. Only some libraries (Moscow, Kazan and Kyiv universities) were public in nature and were open to “outside” readers. The rules of university libraries and other higher educational institutions strictly prohibited the lending of books to readers who did not belong to universities.
Student services were unsatisfactorily organized. Access to the fundamental, or main, university library was denied to students or deliberately hampered by various formalities and restrictions. By order of the government, special funds, the so-called state student libraries, were created for students at universities. These libraries were stocked only with reference books, textbooks, dictionaries, etc. Purchase of other, third-party books and periodicals. Not to mention progressive Russian and foreign literature. Very popular among advanced students, it was prohibited.
In the first half of the 19th century, the outstanding Russian mathematician Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky took an active part in the fundamental library of Kazan University. There is, perhaps, no literate person in our country who has not heard the name of this great mathematician, the creator of the new non-Euclidean geometry. Descendants rightly compare him with Christopher Columbus, then with Nicolaus Copernicus. But during his lifetime, Lobachevsky’s genius was not recognized; his main work was subjected to harsh criticism and ridicule. The scientist remained a crazy eccentric, a Kazan madman.
He graduated from Lobachevsky University in 1811 with the title of master. Scientific creativity began - a period of full disclosure of a rich and multifaceted personality.
December 1819, extraordinary professor, court councilor Nikolai Lobachevsky, together with professor E.O. Varderamo was appointed to a special committee to check the proper organization and order of the university library. But Varderamo soon resigned from the university, and Lobachevsky remained the only member of the special. committee. It was a difficult period for Kazan University. District trustee Magnitsky, who was looking for traces of godlessness and free-thinking in everything, had just finished cleaning the student library from godless and morally disgusting books: they were burned at the stake. The same fate awaited the main library. A special committee was entrusted with the duty of confiscating and destroying books that are contrary to morality or generally disagree with the divine principle.
For the sake of saving priceless books, old grievances between the student Lobachevsky and the court were forgotten. inspector Kondyrev, now a professor and librarian at the university. Showing great civic courage, he managed to remove and hide the most dangerous books in the house of adjunct professor Khalfin. There were no catalogs then. The scattered inventories of books were such a confusing matter that it was impossible to figure it out. But the disorder, which always irritated Lobachevsky, at that time only made him happy: without fear of inspection, it was easy to isolate everything that needed to be saved.
October 1825 The University Council assigned the position of librarian to N.I. Lobachevsky, but only on February 19, 1826 he was approved in it. However, due to the fact that the library still remained in an extremely neglected state, he could not begin to perform his duties for more than a year and was even forced to turn to the Council with the question: How can I ever accept the library from the magician and from whom?
N.I. Lobachevsky was elected rector on May 3, 1827, immediately after the liberation of the Kazan educational district and university from the fatal seven-year guardianship, from the oppressive guardianship of the unrivaled obscurantist Magnitsky. One can imagine in what a difficult situation, which required enormous effort, the initial days and weeks of Nikolai Ivanovich’s work in this post passed. But at the same time, he did not resign from his duties as a university librarian, considering this duty to be of exceptional importance and sacred. Essentially, only after being elected rector could he begin to actually manage the library. He worked as a librarian for more than 10 years, almost until the end of 1837, when the construction of a magnificent library building for those times with a three-tier book depository and spacious reading rooms was completed.
Everyone who knew Lobachevsky was amazed by the breadth of his knowledge and extraordinary erudition. Many years of reading experience helped him thoroughly study the structure of libraries and the organization of library science in St. Petersburg, Dorpat, and Moscow. His approach to library issues was sometimes original. Here is the presentation to the Board of Kazan University on the structure of the library dated April 30, 1825, made by Lobachevsky even before his appointment as a librarian: The structure of the library requires paying attention to space, costs, making it convenient for the librarian to serve the reader, and, finally, to the beauty of appearance. The last requirement is inferior to the first as essential; but the decorations of the library cannot be neglected, in the intention that everything that serves for enlightenment, in addition to internal dignity, should be dressed in an attractive appearance and thereby support love in the sciences and a high opinion of them...
It is interesting that N.I. Lobachevsky fully implemented the construction of the library building. From the very first month of his work as rector-librarian, Nikolai Ivanovich persistently advocated for the safety of the library collection. He demanded the return of the missing books and magazines, regardless of faces.
Lobachevsky acquired the first books for Kazan University, not yet being a librarian, in 1821.
This summer, he was on vacation in St. Petersburg and received instructions from the Magnitsky district trustee to purchase equipment for a physics laboratory and books on mathematics for the library. Lobachevsky selected the necessary mathematical works in the bookstores of Saint-Florent and V. Gref. How responsibly he approached the selection of purchased literature is evidenced by his report to Magnitsky dated September 8, 1821: I am ready to imagine the lists of books I have selected, as soon as I receive an order from you. However, I cannot guarantee that all the books I designated for purchase could usefully serve as a guide in teaching, for many of them were not read by me, but were known only to me from references to them by other writers or seemed important to me because of their titles. In order to make an unmistakable choice and save useless treasury expenses, I consider it necessary to first review them myself, which will take about a month of time.
Already in 1821, Lobachevsky put forward the most important principle for acquiring a library, without which the development of scientific thought is impossible: the need for timely acquisition of the latest works and, above all, the most important scientific periodicals: ... the other part contains equally necessary books, but which are here no booksellers could be found. These are mostly academic notes, very expensive publications, which the university should especially try to acquire as the creations of the most famous men of learning. In order for teaching at the university to go along with the enlightenment of the whole of Europe, so that the learned people who make up the universities are allowed to work on improving science, it is necessary that the university be notified of the enterprises and successes of their men, it is necessary that it read modern notes.
Having become a librarian, Lobachevsky developed special rules that had to be followed when acquiring library collections:
So that the essays complement the shortcomings of others recognized as useful in teaching and already in the university library.
When assigning newly published books, preference should be given to those works that have gained fame in the scientific world.
So that the works are up-to-date.
So that they contain not only individual and particular discoveries, sometimes subject to doubt, but also discoveries that have already been brought into the system and which were the reasons for the useful transformation of science.
So that the main goal when choosing books is to benefit the teaching of science at the university.
Lobachevsky’s requirements for equipping the library with the latest works, the most fundamental scientific works and, in general, books that are useful for teaching science, have retained their importance to this day; they are still relevant today for any university library.
To ensure high-quality acquisition of the library's collections, Lobachevsky developed a clear system for collecting preliminary applications for the necessary scientific and educational literature from all faculties, departments and teachers of the university. Once a year, in the summer, after classes ended, all teachers were required to submit lists of books that it would be desirable to purchase during the next academic year. As a result of such a system, all university teachers took part in the acquisition of the library, thereby achieving a high-quality replenishment of its collections in all branches of knowledge.
It should be noted that Lobachevsky sought to fulfill all requests not only from professors and adjuncts of the university, but also from beginning, very young teachers.
Lobachevsky is credited with organizing a clear system for quickly obtaining the latest foreign publications. In the first years of the university’s existence, foreign publications were subscribed to from time to time, and everything depended only on the energy of a particular professor interested in the book. During the period of Magnitsky’s trusteeship, the collection of foreign publications virtually ceased; questions of European scientists were solely resolved by the trustee. Only under Lobachevsky was the randomness in the selection of foreign publications replaced by a system that allowed the library to receive any book it needed, regardless of where it was published.
No less interested and careful than in scientific literature, Lobachevsky completed the collections of the library with the best works of Russian literature. So, on November 17, 1828, he offers to purchase Eugene Onegin, the Bakhchisarai Fountain, Gypsy, Ruslana and Lyudmila and other works by Pushkin, which are recognized as classics and, constituting an era in Russian literature, would have long ago deserved to be acquired for it. Lobachevsky's proposal was not approved, but already on April 3, 1829, he bought some of Pushkin's works.
The above data convincingly indicates that almost all newly published works were immediately acquired by Lobachevsky for the library of Kazan University. It should be noted that Pushkin’s books were no exception, and the same was the case with all the best examples of Russian literature.
If scientific literature and foreign publications were ordered through the count's commission agent, then works of Russian literature, as a rule, were directly selected by Lobachevsky in Glazunov's Kazan bookstore.
Sometimes, in his presentation to the council, Lobachevsky gave a brief description of the books, showing that new literary works acquired for the library were previously read by him. Lobachevsky closely followed all the new releases in Russian literature and, if they were not in the Kazan bookstore, he ordered books from St. Petersburg.
Lobachevsky paid great attention to historical works in general, and works on Russian history in particular. Lobachevsky highly valued encyclopedias, various dictionaries and indexes, bibliographic aids, knowing full well that they were necessary for both the scientist and the librarian. The subject of Lobachevsky’s constant concern was the acquisition of the library’s oriental collections, which is quite understandable. It was in the thirties of the 19th century that the oriental faculty of Kazan University began to develop rapidly; on the initiative of Lobachevsky, new departments were organized and opened.
A large number of valuable Chinese and Manchu manuscripts, woodcuts and printed books came to the library as a result of one of the trips to Buryatia and China, which was organized on the initiative of Lobachevsky. The purposeful acquisition of oriental literature in the fund continued in subsequent years.
Lobachevsky also paid great attention to the acquisition of publications for past odes that were not in the library’s collections, including the purchase of ancient and rare books, manuscripts, engravings, maps, and plans. The main way of acquiring publications from previous years, used under Lobachevsky, is the acquisition of personal libraries, the purchase of books from private individuals.
Lobachevsky managed to make an interesting acquisition in 1829. Thus, offering to buy from the peasant Ivan Nikonov the Apostle, published in 1567 by Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets, the first Russian dated book, he writes: This book, being the first printed in Moscow, is important for the university library as a monument to the typographic art of that time.
It should be noted that the acquisition of personal libraries, especially large ones, required significant effort from the librarian. First of all, it was difficult to compare the list of literature offered for purchase with the library catalogs: after all, at that time there was no single alphabetical or documentary catalog in the Kazan University library.
One more detail of the library’s collections can be noted. We are talking about the desire to acquire for the library such publications that would be of interest not only to teachers and students of the university, but also to any of its visitors.
The most important source of acquisition of funds under Lobachevsky was subscription to foreign and domestic newspapers and magazines. Lobachevsky rightly emphasized the importance of timely receipt of scientific periodicals, so that teaching at the university would go along with the education of the whole of Europe. During the period of his librarianship, international book exchange began. The first to maintain contact with the Kazan University library was the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Initially, the library transferred money for publications of this society through the Russian embassy, then English publications on oriental studies began to be sent to the library free of charge in exchange for publications of the corresponding profile from Kazan University.
Lobachevsky approached the issue of creating and organizing university library catalogs no less carefully than he did with the collection of collections. By the time he was chosen as the university librarian, a single catalog for all library collections did not yet exist. The library had five separate catalogs: the book collection received from the gymnasium in 1807, the Frank library, the Zimnyakov library, as well as the so-called new and newest libraries. The quality of these catalogs was very unsatisfactory, and Lobachevsky knew this very well.
In 1821, Lobachevsky was already convinced of the need to create a single catalog for all library collections, compiled on the basis of uniform requirements. Therefore, in October 1826, when the library’s reception had not yet actually been completed, he turned to the university council with a special proposal on the need to compile a unified documentary catalog for all the library’s holdings. It was then that he first formulated his demand for descriptions of books: that the title be copied from the books as it should be, i.e. their contents, edition, place of printing and time thereof, also the number of prints in the books in which they are located. In November of the same year, Lobachevsky's thoughts about library catalogs were further developed. In his next presentation to the university council, he comes to the conclusion that the university library should have three catalogues: documentary, systematic in the sciences and alphabetical for the librarian’s guidance. The University Council approved Lobachevsky's proposal, but neither in 1826 nor in 1827. the board was unable to allocate any funds to begin work on creating catalogs. Only in January 1828, after repeated representations and petitions from Lobachevsky, the necessary funds were allocated and work began on creating a unified documentary catalog for all library collections.
Work on creating the catalog continued under the direct supervision of Lobachevsky for over seven years. Only in 1937 was a complete documentary catalog of all library collections compiled. This catalog has been preserved; today it is the initial inventory books of the so-called fund. If you look at it carefully, you can easily see that many of the principles of describing books introduced by Lobachevsky are still applied today. The instruction of the university board dated September 30, 1833, drawn up by the rector and librarian Lobachevsky, clearly defined the purpose of the documentary catalogue: The documentary catalog must present a detailed and correct description of books, prints, manuscripts, dissertations and, in general, everything that constitutes the scientific property of the library.
Unlike similar catalogs of other libraries, the documentary catalog of the Kazan University Library was very detailed and provided information not only about the author of the book, its full and exact title, place and year of publication, volume, format, number of drawings, price, but also at what case, the book arrived in the library, from whom exactly and according to what instructions.
Lobachevsky approached the issue of creating a systematic catalog no less seriously than creating a documentary one. He carefully studied the existing classification schemes of sciences. The fact that the practical development of a classification scheme for sciences had already begun before 1828 is also evidenced by the report on the work of the library: The much-needed correspondence and combination of all individual catalogs into one common one and even the compilation of a solid systematic arrangement for all works began. Subsequently, in 1828-1834, the main work on developing a scheme for the classification of sciences, called the Layout Plan for the Kazan University Library, was carried out by assistant librarian Voigt. The general management of the development of the Plan was carried out by Lobachevsky. In 1834, work on drawing up the Plan was completed.
The plan stipulated that the alphabetical catalog should be kept on separate sheets (large format cards), divided into four columns: The first contains the number of the documentary catalogue; in the second - literature and systematic catalog number; in the third - the title of the book according to the rules set out in the documentary catalogue, only in an abbreviated form; in the fourth - the number of bindings.
The section on the systematic catalog precedes the presentation of the new classification scheme and contains a number of fundamental provisions that allow one to judge the views of Lobachevsky and Voigt.
This section begins with the same detailed regulation of the rules for maintaining a systematic catalog, as was done with respect to the documentary and alphabetical catalogues: A systematic catalog must be mobile. Book titles are written on separate sheets. These sheets are divided into four columns, in which the first indicates the letter of the department to which the book belongs, and the number to which it fits in it; in the second column the title of the book is written according to the rules adopted in the documentary catalogue; in the third - the number of bindings; in the fourth - the number of the documentary catalogue, etc.
As the rector of the university, Lobachevsky personally entered into the affairs of all decisions of the Council and the Board concerning the library, registered new receipts, noting their numbers, cost, etc. . I tried my best to create a real scientific library. The work was painstaking, exhausting, taking a lot of time and effort.
In the opinion of many researchers and scientists, there was no other rector in the history of university education in Russia who so deeply understood the meaning of the book, the importance of the library, was so brilliantly versed in the issues of library science and did so much for its development.
