The collection of Cyrillic works from the early period of Slavonic and Russian book-printing is truly unique. It is one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of its kind in the world. The collection numbers over 7000 titles published from 1491 to 1 January 1801. It contains two thirds of all the books known to have been produced in the Cyrillic alphabet in the sixteenth century. The St. Petersburg collection includes all today known Slavonic incunabula — the products of Slavonic printshops in the Balkans, Venice and Ugro-Wallachia; all the publications of the Belorussian printing pioneer Franzisk Skorina known to bibliography; the books printed in Moscow, Belorussia and Ukraine by Ivan Fiodorov; the first Russian textbooks; rare works from Moscow and St Petersburg print-shops and from those run illegally by the dissident Old Believers sect. In some cases the National Library of Russia has the only surviving copy of a work.
Beginning of the Acts of the Apostles
Sibiu, 1546. Fol. 116v.–117
Vilna, 1575. Fol. [1]v.–2.
The collection was built up, mainly over the nineteenth century and a quarter, through purchase and donation of the libraries of institutions and private collectors. Notable acquisitions of the early nineteenth century, for example, include libraries assembled by Count F.Tolstoy, the merchant S.Soloviev, the bibliophiles I.Kasterin and P.Frolov. In later years, the holdings of early printed Cyrillic material was further enriched with books, collected by M.Pogodin, P.Korobanov, I.Karataev, A.Neustroev and others. A considerable number of items were transferred to the Library from the Hermitage, the Synod, the Rumiantsev Museum, and the General Staff. Thanks to the acquisitions mentioned above and smaller ones, the coverage for publications in the Cyrillic script from the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries is as comprehensive as possible. Items have survived in a generally good condition.
The holdings of early printed Cyrillic material are still growing. The growth in the collection is largely by purchase.
View the online exhibitions ABC Books, Primers, Grammars, Dictionaries of the 16-17 Centuries, Anniversary of Russian Printing.
You can also see online exhibitions in Russian: 16th Century Cyrillic Gospels, The Printing Pioneer Peter Mstislavets and his Publications;
the collection of the ABC Books, Primers, Grammars, Dictionaries of the 16-17 Centuries in the Digital Library;
anther similar site in Russian: Books of Vyatka Old Believers.
The resource contains a description and digital copies of publications stored in the library of the Old Believer community of Kirov (Kazan-Vyatka diocese of the Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church). The collection mainly contains liturgical books of the 16th – 20th centuries, printed at the Moscow Printing House, at the Moscow Common Faith Printing House, and at several Old Believer printing houses, including the one located in Staraya Tushka.
A small collection provides insight into reading predilections of the Vyatka Old Believers and peculiarities of using books printed in the Cyril alphabet in the Old Believers' environment.
Go to the catalogue
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Rare Books Collections
Rare Books. Brief Summary
Collections