The Russian Tradition of Publishing Illuminated Bibles

The article is devoted to the tradition of publishing engraved biblical albums in Russia (17th — early 20th centuries), made by Russian engravers after the prototypes of European engravings or after author’s drawings by graduates of the Russian Academy of Arts. Illustrated collections on the subjects of the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament based on drawings by Russian artists — A.E. Egorov, A.A. Agin, M.N. Koshelevskaya, V.S. Kryukov, V.D. Fartusov — are considered. The source material for the work were copies from large collections of graphic art: the isofond of the Russian State Library, the Museum of Christian Art “Church-Archaeological Study” of the Moscow Theological Academy and the Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum-Reserve, which are first introduced by the author into the scientific turnover.

At present, Western European illustrated Bibles are widely studied by specialists in various fields of scientific knowledge as a large-scale phenomenon of book culture. The ways of penetration and distribution of foreign editions in the Moscow state are studied; the search, accounting and description of copies in domestic library collections are carried out; marginalia on the pages of albums and captions to images are investigated; techniques, biographies of masters, stylistics of works and methods of copying foreign samples in Russian artistic practice are studied. At the same time, the tradition of publishing Russian illuminated Bibles, created by analogy with foreign ones, remains poorly studied.

Pre-revolutionary catalogues of Russian illustrated editions contain descriptions of Bible albums of the first half of the 19th century, while the vast array of illustrated printed matter of the second half of the century has not yet been systematised and catalogued.

The purpose of this study is to partially fill this lacuna, to restore the chronology of the appearance of the first domestic folio Bibles, and to present an overview of lithographed editions of pictures of the Sacred History of the Old and New Testament of the second half of the 19th century.

1. Khromov O.R. Tsel’nogravirovannaya kniga i gravyura v russkikh rukopisyakh XVI—XIX vekov. Katalog kollektsii otdela pis’mennykh istochnikov Yaroslavskogo gosudarstvennogo istoriko-arkhitekturnogo i khudozhestvennogo muzeya-zapovednika [Whole-Engraved Book and Engraving in Russian Manuscripts of the 16th—19th Centuries: Catalog of the Collection and Department of Written Sources of the Yaroslavl State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve]. Moscow, Art-Rodnik Publ., 2013, 438 p.

2. Rovinsky D.A. Russkie narodnye kartinki: v 5 kn. [Russian Folk Pictures: in 5 books]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiya Imperatorskoi Akademii Nauk Publ., 1881, book 3, 751 p.

3. Sakovich A.G. Narodnaya gravirovannaya kniga Vasiliya Korenya, 1692—1696 [Folk Engraved Book by Vasily Koren, 1692—1696]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1983, 167 p.

4. Mishina E.A. Rannyaya russkaya gravyura na dereve XVII—XVIII vv. [Early Russian Wood Engraving of the 17th — 18th Centuries]. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin Publ., 1998, 184 p.

5. Belobrova O.A. About the Sources of Miniatures to the Works by Nikolai Spathari of the 1670s, Ocherki russkoi khudozhestvennoi kul’tury XVI—XX vekov [Essays on Russian Artistic Culture of the 16th—20th Centuries]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 2005, pp. 190—199 (in Russ.).

6. Klepikov S.A. Russian Engraved Books of the 17th—18th Centuries, Kniga: issledovaniya i materialy [Book: Researches and Materials]. Moscow, Kniga Publ., 1964, coll. 9, pp. 141—178 (in Russ.).

7. Khromov O.R. Some Remarks on the History of the Russian Engraved Bible, Knizhnaya kul’tura Rossii: Istoriya i sovremennost’: mezhved. sb. nauch. trudov [The Book Culture of Russia. History and Modernity: interdepartmental collected articles]. Moscow, MGUP Publ., 2003, issue 1, pp. 125—131 (in Russ.).

8. Obolyaninov N.A. Katalog russkikh illyustrirovannykh izdanii. 1725—1860 gg.: v 2 t. [Catalog of the Russian Illustrated Editions. 1725—1860: in 2 vol.]. Moscow, Tovarishchestvo Tipografii A.I. Mamontova Publ., 1914—1915, 687 p.

9. Guseva A.A. Svod russkikh knig kirillovskoi pechati XVIII veka tipografii Moskvy i Sankt-Peterburga i universal’naya metodika ikh identifikatsii [Code of the Cyrillic Russian Books of the 18th Century of Moscow and St. Petersburg Printing Houses and Universal Methodology of Their Identification]. Moscow, Indrik Publ., 2010, 1251 p.

10. Gerasimova N.V. About Engravings in the First Editions of the Elizabethan Bible (Based on the Collection of the Andrei Rublev Museum), Rumyantsevskie chteniya - 2021: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii (21—23 aprelya 2021): v 2 ch. [Rumyantsev Readings — 2021: Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference (April 21—23, 2021): in 2 parts. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2021, part 1, pp. 175—179 (in Russ.).

11. Egorov A.E. Risunki, sochinennye i gravirovannye Alekseem Egorovym, imperatorskoi Akademii Khudozhestv professorom i kavalerom [Drawings Composed and Engraved by Alexei Egorov, Professor and Cavalier of the Imperial Academy of Arts]. St. Petersburg, 1814, 16 p.

12. Russkie illyustrirovannye izdaniya XVIII—XIX stoletii (1720—1870). Bibliograficheskii opyt [Russian Illustrated Editions of the 18th—19th Centuries (1720—1870). Bibliographic Experience]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiya V. Kirshbauma Publ., 1898, 309 p.

13. Agin A.A. Vetkhii zavet v kartinakh [The Old Testament in Pictures]. St. Petersburg, Izdanie F. Pryanishnikova i A. Sapozhnikova, 1846, 12 p.

14. Sapozhnikov A.P. 54 kartiny iz Svyashchennoi istorii Vetkhogo Zaveta, sostavlennye v 4-yu dolyu lista, byvshim professorom Imperatorskoi Akademii Khudozhestv, Sapozhnikovym [54 Pictures from the Sacred History of the Old Testament, Compiled in the 4th Part of the Sheet, by the Former Professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Sapozhnikov]. St. Petersburg, Obshchestvennaya Pol’za Publ., 1861, 93 p.

15. Sobko N.P. Slovar’ russkikh khudozhnikov, vayatelei, zhivopistsev, zodchikh, risoval’shchikov, graverov, litografov, medal’erov, mozaichistov, ikonopistsev, liteishchikov, chekanshchikov, skanshchikov i proch. S drevneishikh vremen do nashikh dnei (IX—XIX vv.): (s 1867 po 1892 g. vklyuchit.): v 3 t. [Dictionary of Russian Artists, Sculptors, Painters, Architects, Draftsmen, Engravers, Lithographers, Medalists, Mosaicists, Icon Painters, Foundry Workers, Chasers, Jewelers-Filigree and Others. From Ancient Times to the Present Day (IX—XIX Centuries): (from 1867 to 1892 included) in 3 volumes]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiya M.M. Stasyulevicha Publ., 1893, vol. 1, issue 1, XVI p.

16. Peshe A. (ed.) Kratkaya Svyashchennaya istoriya Vetkhogo i Novogo Zaveta v nazidanie detei i predstavlennaya v 74 iskusno gravirovannykh kartinakh [A Brief Sacred History of the Old and New Testaments for the Edification of Children Presented in 74 Artfully Engraved Pictures]. Moscow, Tip. Avgusta Semena Publ., 1820, 219 p.

17. Kartiny dlya naglyadnogo prepodavaniya Svyashchennoi istorii Vetkhogo i Novogo Zaveta. 2-e izdanie [Illustrations for Visual Teaching of the Sacred History of the Old and New Testaments]. St. Petersburg, Izdanie I.P. Sidorskogo, 1877.

18. Fartusov V.D. Izobrazheniya svyashchennykh sobytii Biblii i tserkovnoi istorii [Images of Sacred Events of the Bible and Church History]. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo V.D. Fartusova pri Tserkovno-Arkheologicheskom Otdele Moskovskogo Obshchestva Lyubitelei Dukhovnogo Prosveshcheniya, 1906—1910.