News, events

Petersburg Cuisine in the 19th-21st Century Сoronation and Solemn Menus of Lunches and Dinners

Dear friends. We invite you to visit a virtual exhibition dedicated to St. Petersburg cuisine. The exhibition presents coronation menus, menus for gala lunches and dinners, as well as individual dish recipes.

International Online Seminar "Libraries and Indigenous Peoples"

The National Library of Russia invites you to join the live stream of the International Online Seminar "Libraries and Indigenous Peoples" which will be broadcast on July 19, 2023, 15:00 (GMT+3).

Journey to St. Petersburg of the 19th and Early 20th Century

The National Library of Russia invites you to a virtual journey to Saint Petersbug of the 19th and early 20th  century. You can get there through the "color photographs" by the Photoglob Company! The photochromes show the central streets and squares, famous architectural sights. For example, you can see Palace Square with the Alexander Column and Nevsky Prospect. The statue of Emperor Peter the Great on Senate Square, the Kazan Cathedral and St. Isaac's Cathedral. 

Exhibition to the 100th anniversary of the Republic of Turkey in the New Building of the National Library of Russia

An exhibition "Turkey, Сlose and Far" dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey opened in the New Building of the National Library of Russia. 

10th Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus

On June 26-28, Ufa hosted 10th Forum of Russian and Belarusian Regions. The main theme of the event is: "10th anniversary of the Forum of Regions of Russia and Belarus: results and prospects".

Library Telebridge: Russia - Mongolia

On June, 23 "Library Telebridge: Russia - Mongolia" took place in the course of which the representatives of the National Library of Russia and the National Library of Mongolia exchanged their professional experience and discussed the prospects of cooperation.

Solovetsky Monastery Library

The Solovetsky Monastery Library  dates back to the late 15th century and is associated with the educational activities of Hegumen Dositheos. Now digital copies of the rare old manuscripts are available online.

This online resource presents the most valuable manuscripts in historical, literary and artistic terms. Among them are manuscripts containing rare autographs of ancient Russian scribes; book donations to the monastery, made by prominent state and church figures; vocal music manuscripts reflecting the original singing tradition of the Solovetsky Monastery, etc. 

Library Telebridge: the Russian Federation - the Republic of Turkey

On May, 17 "Library Telebridge: the Russian Federation - the Republic of Turkey" took place. In the course of the Telebridge representatives of the National Library of Russia and Nation's Library of the Presidency (Turkey) exchanged their professional experience and discussed cooperation prospects.

Ostromir Gospel

Expore the Ostromir Gospels, the earliest surviving East Slavic dated manuscript book. One of the Library's major highlights is freely available online. You can view the digitised copy of the manuscript made with great art and skill in the mid-11th century.

World War One Postcards

On display is an Interesting selection of historical postcards issued in Russia, Germany, England, France and other countries during the First World War from 1914 to 1917.

Samarkand Quran in the Public Library (1870–1917)

The online exhibition is devoted to the early Samarkand Quran, a unique landmark of world literature that  was kept in St. Petersburg Imperial Library (now National Library of Russia) for half a century. 
The history of this manuscript is steeped in legends and stretches back centuries. For a long time it was believed, and many continue to believe so far, that the Samarkand Quran was copied by the eminent companion of the prophet Muhammad, the Caliph Uthman (‘Osman; rights. 644–656) and, moreover, that the Caliph was murdered while he was reading this book and it is stained with his blood. The legend gave the title of the "Uthman Quran" to the book.

Aldine Press: the Founding of the Printing Company

The National Library of Russia presents the online exhibition "Aldine Press: the Founding of the Printing Company". The exhibition tells about the Venetian printer Aldus Manutius, the founder of the famous Aldine Press, who created the first italic types and printed the celebrated portable editions of Greek and Latin classics. The National Library of Russia has over 900 Aldine volumes produced in the 15th -16th centuries in the Renaissance Venice.

Ancient Egyptian Papyri in the National Library of Russia

The online exhibition features the four earliest books cared for by the National Library of Russia. All four are ancient Egyptian funerary scrolls from the Theban necropolis, dated back to the 10th–9th centuries BC. These four fragments from the funerary texts are written on papyrus in hieratic script and decorated with illustrations, depicting gods and priests. 

Engravings of the time of Peter the Great

The National Library of Russia is happy to announce an exhibition Engravings of the Time of Peter the Great, dedicated to the 350th anniversary of the most famous Russian Emperor (1672-1725).

Engravings, often accompanied by parallel texts (in English and Latin, German or French), informed Russia and Europe on the establishment of the Russian Navy and its victories. They glorified the emperor, depicted land battles and military victories, featured festive events and St. Petersburg, the new Russian capital founded on May 27, 1703.

Voltairean Readings. 2022

The Voltairean Readings Annual Conference, hosted by the National Library of Russia,  will took place from 31 October to 1 November 2022 in Saint Petersburg. The Centre for the Study of the Enlightenment Voltaire Library proposes to devote the conference to issues related to the formation of national historical narrative in European countries in the eighteenth century, primarily in Russia and France. Dear colleagues, we invite you to take part in the event.

To Be Napoleon Each Wishes

The online exhibition shows selected autographs of Napoleon Bonaparte from the collections of the Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Russia. Exhibited papers and letters date to different periods of the Napoleonic era. Some of them have been published, others are still unpublished. The documents deserve the attention of researchers who, two centuries after the death of Napoleon on the island of St. Helena, again and again return to the history of his unprecedented rise and fall.

Library Services on Three Continents. International Video Conference

Please note! The National Library of Russia invites representatives of libraries, associations and educational organizations of Eurasia, South America and Africa to take part  in the International Video Conference "Library Services on Three Continents".

Nautical Сharts of the 17th Сentury

The National Library of Russia presents a collection of sea charts of the 17th century by the outstanding Dutch Golden Age cartographers and publishers Willem Janszoon Blaeu (1571−1638), Frederick de Wit (1629−1706), Hendrick Doncker (1626−1699), Jan Jansson 1588−1664). All charts can be seen in our Digital Library.

Souvenir Postcards of St. Petersburg

The online exhibition is dedicated to early souvenir postcards from our collections, depicting famous attractions of Saint Peterburg. The exhibition showcases more than thirty rare "Greetings from Saint Petersburg" postcards of the late 19th century. They are among the earliest postcards displaying recognizable sights of the northern capital.

Pioneer Russian Postcards

Explore the history of postcards in Russia with the Pioneer Russian Postcards online exhibition. On display are art postcards from our collections, issued by Russian and Swedish publishers in  the late 19th - early 20th centuries, which reproduce art works by celebrated artists.