National Library of Russia
National Library of Russia. 225 Years in Existence
National Library of Russia. 200 anniversary of the founding. 2014
The film is in Russian
Titles in the film are in Russian.
Music in Faust's Study
Oriental Masterpieces of Book Art
The film features the 15th – 16th century masterpieces of book art, containing works of the great Turkic/Persian poet Ali-Shir Nava'i. The library has three lifetime copies of his works, starting with the so-called Early Diwan - a collection of poems produced when the author was 25 years of age. You can see magnificent manuscripts, created by outstanding artists and masters of calligraphy, and learn about the history of our library .
The film was released by the Uzbek news agency UzbekistanToday.
New Library Building Aerial View. Author Victor Vasiliev
A Stroll in the Library
Rarest Books from the NLR's Collections
The video is devoted to four of the most valuable books from our collections: the Kiev Psalter of 1397, Blaeu's Atlas of 1645 published in Amsterdam, Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle of 1493, the Byzantine Enamels (St Petersburg, Frankfurt. 1892).
The film is in Russian.
Rare Books. Then and Now
The video shows the most interesting venues of our library. You will see chained books in the Faust's Study — the special depository for incunabula, one of the first printed books — the Astrolabium Planum in Tabulis by Johann Engel, published in 1488 and the Voltaire Library. The second part of the film tells of the modern Rare Books Publisher.
Tour of Faust's Study
The Gotic Hall or Faust's Study is the most famous room of our library. It was built in 1857 as a special repository for early printed books. The room resembles a study of a scholar from the Middle Ages. It contains books published soon after the invention of the printing press, the so-called incunabula. In its center is a statue of the European first printer Johannes Gutenberg by sculptor Torvaldsen.
You will see the Library's most valuable and rarest possessions: rare examples of chained books and bindings of the 15th century, as well as books from the libraries of famous historical figures: Louis XIV, Anna of Austria, Marquise Pompadour, Cardinal Richelieu, Napoleon I and others.
The text is read in Russian.
Tale of the Battle of Neva of 1240
The video film The Tale of the Battle of Neva of 1240 shows a fragment from the Illuminated Compiled Chronicle created in the 16th century on the orders of Ivan the Terrible. Every page features colourful miniatures. The Tale tells of defending the northwestern lands of Russia against Swedish armies by Prince Alexander Nevsky's troops. The filmt is in Russian.
Tour of the Prints Department
The film shows unique visual materials of the NLR holdings. Among them are the fist engravings of St.Petersburg and the city founder Peter the Great. You'll be shown valuable collections of West European portraits of kings and other famous figures, popular Russian prints. You can see 19th century ethnographic photographs and advertising posters. Here you'll find avant-guard graphics, first movie billboards, early postcards and wrappers, bookplates etc.
Tour of the Manuscripts Department
The film shows some precious items from collections of the National Library of Russia. You will see ancient stone tablets, a Japanese woodblock manuscript, the 8th century Insular Gospel Book, the 15th century medical book, a charter by Empress Catherine II to the boy from whom she was vaccinated against smallpox, music autographs of Mozart and Salieri, the Leningrad Codex (1010 A.D.), the oldest manuscript containing the entire Hebrew Bible etc.
Tour of the Voltaire Library
The Voltaire Library is the only well preserved library of a French author of the Enlightenment (in France, no such libraries exist today). The Voltaire Library consists of 6,814 volumes on diverse subjects. Many of the books contain notes in the hand of the philosopher. Catherine II purchased Voltaire's library immediately after his death.
In addition to books and manuscripts by Voltaire, you will see projects for building a replica of Voltaire’s Castle near St.Petersburg, samples of the Castle's furniture upholstery and walls covering.
Architects of the National Library of Russia