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Emperor Alexander I's Visit to the Public Library

Emperor Alexander I's Visit to the Public Library. 2 January 1812
Emperor Alexander I's Visit to the Public Library. 2 January 1812
On the second day of the new year of 1812, the Library was visited by Emperor Alexander I. The visit crowned the preceding period of nearly two decades of hard work on sorting books, arrangement of them in proper order, development of a bibliographic system. The crucial breakthrough was made in the years of 1809-1811 , when Director Alexey Olenin took in charge of the practical affairs, first as an assistant, and after the death of Alexander Stroganov —as Director of the Library.1 On 29 December 1811, Minister of Education Alexey Razumovsky reported to the emperor that 'the library will be ready to open to the public in the early next year' and requested His Majesty to bless it with his visit before its public opening.2

On 2 January 1812, all personnel in parade uniforms assembled in the the round hall of the first floor of the Library (now the Manuscripts Department Room), and Director of Library introduced them to the emperor. Alexander I was presented with Outline of the New Bibliographic System compiled by Olenin and verses by the poet Nikolai Gnedich, written especially for the occasion. The Emperor looked round the Library, viewed rare books of the 15th century, a small collection of Russian books and spent almost an hour at the Manuscripts Depot, examining ancient manuscripts, letters of royalty, autographs of famous people.

The emperor's overall impression was extremely favorable, and he considered the library to be fully prepared for the opening. Olenin and librarians received awards as well as pay rises according to their ranks.3 Emperor Alexander I's visit to the Public Library as a milestone event in the history of the library was depicted in the picture,4 and the day of 2 January (14 January in our modern calendar) has since become a holiday for the Library and is celebrated every year.

Following the emperor, Empress Elizabeth, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, his brothers Grand Duke Nicholas Pavlovich (the future Nicholas I) and Michael Pavlovich of Russia, and his sister Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna visited the Library. Besides the members of the royal family, it was inspected by many high-ranking statesmen and military commanders, among them were the emperor's aide Count (subsequently Prince) Viktor Kochubey, poet Count Sergei Rumyantsev, General Count Alexey Arakcheyev, Admiral Pavel Chichagov, General-Field Marshal Prince Pyotr Volkonsky, Chief Procurator Prince Aleksandr Galitzine and others.

On 10 February, the library budget was increased, and, on 23 February, His Majesty approved the Description of the Detailed Rules for Managing the Imperial Public Library.5 In March, the Society for Compiling a Slovenian-Russian Dictionary was established at the Library. It included Olenin and librarians I. Krylov, N. Gnedich, A. Yermolaev, V. Sopikov, A. Krasovskii, A Vostokov, at the same time, it was decided to publish the Experience of Russian Bibliography by V. Sopikov. The official opening of the library was scheduled for the spring, but because of the need to check for availability of manuscripts in the Manuscripts Depot, it was moved up to the summer. The works were going on, and, at the special request, some individuals were permitted to cosult items in the round hall of the second floor.

A. Stroganov and his predecessor Marie-Gabriel de Choiseul-Gouffier were appointed Chief Directors of the Imperial Libraries. After the death of Stroganov on 27 September 1811, the Library was subordinated directly to Minister of Education, the position of Chief Director was eliminated 'as completely replaceable by the authority of Minister of Education', and a new position was later created, that of Director, to which Olenin was appointed on 13 October.

Imperial Public Library in 1812 for one hundred years, 1814—1914. St.Petersburg, 1914. Page 60. (Further — IPL for a hundred years).

Applying for awards, Olenin wrote to Minister A. Razumovsky, that mental and physical labour of officials were needed to bring the Library in order , "I say three times physical, because classifying 250,000 books, moving them from one floor to another, and and arranging books on the shelves in a library really were considerable and, moreover, the most boring work ... "OAD NLR. F. 1. Op. 1. 1812. Item number 7. Fols. 1v—2.

The picture is made after the honorary librarian of the IPL I. Ivanov's drawing, after which A. Ukhtomsky executed aquatint engraving.

«Description of the Detailed Rules…» replaced «Regulations for Managing the Imperial Public Library» of 1810 and became a statutory document up to 1850.