Bookplate (from the Latin “from books”) is a book sign indicating that the book belongs to one or another owner. The first bookplate appeared, probably with the appearance of the first books. Before the invention of printing, bookplates were drawn directly on the book. The first handwritten book sign in Rus' is considered to be a calligraphic vignette-stamp of Abbot Dorotheus, the founder of the library of the Solovetsky Monastery (XV century). In the West, with the advent of printing, a book sign takes the form of a miniature print, stamped from an engraved copper or wooden board. Typically, the bookplate contains the owner’s first and last name and a drawing that succinctly and figuratively speaks about the owner’s profession, interests, or the composition of the owner’s library. Germany is considered the birthplace of the bookplate, where it appeared shortly after the invention of printing. In Russia, the bookplate appeared under Peter I.

Praise to the bookplate No, not a maniac sick with a dream, Cutting through the lines in the twilight, You are erected above us as the thirteenth constellation of the Zodiac, Book sign! Always united, tirelessly new, Aren't you always ready to resurrect Heraldry's forgotten foundations For new thoughts and unexpected words? Engravings in black and white, Child of a bibliophile and a dream, With exquisite fun at times you will lie on the multi-colored flyleaf. The bibliophile's trembling blood is stirred by the inarticulate grace, When the ex-libris with the highest seal Seals bookish love. E.F. Gollerbach

The bookplate originated in Germany in the 16th century, almost immediately after the invention of printing. In Russia, these “book signs” appeared only under Peter 1. However, in the last century, manuscripts from the Solovetsky Monastery, dating from the end of the 15th century, were discovered. They depicted hand-drawn bookplates.

Such different bookplates

The bookplate can either be glued to the inside of the binding or be printed using a special seal - many of them were made to individual orders. There were even such varieties of personalized book marks as superex libris, where an imprint was made on the spine of the book.

The bookplate often contained the name of the owner and was often supplemented by his occupations and interests. If we can draw such an analogy, then the bookplate was the predecessor of the mark that is placed in a virtual library, or the water mark.

Bookplates could be simple and unpretentious or very sophisticated and complex in composition. Sometimes they were just a label with the owner’s name, his signature, or a simple badge invented by the owner of the publication. In some cases it was supplemented with a personal motto or marked with an emblem.

There were also artistic, skillful works of bookplates. They were created using high (for that time) technologies and were small prints and engravings on copper or wood. In their manufacture, lithographic or zincographic methods were used. Among the authors of complex bookplates, it is worth mentioning Albrecht Durer and Favorsky.

Types of bookplates

Experts divide all bookplates into:

Armorial - they depict the owner’s personal coat of arms; in Russia, there was a special demand for such things at the beginning of the twentieth century among the nobility who did not have time or did not want to emigrate;
- monogram - simpler, but with a special ornament, the initials of the owner were indicated on them;
- plot - landscape compositions, emblems, architecture were mainly used here (they were especially popular in the twentieth century).

Nowadays, when many people collect electronic rather than paper libraries, the role of the bookplate is declining. Although, since real books are used less and less, it is possible that the artistic mark may come back into fashion as a kind of tribute to the past.

It is worth noting that there are already two bookplate museums, one of which is in Moscow. And there are thousands of collections of these book graphic miniatures.

“It’s no secret that many true lovers of books (not literature, apart from its physical embodiment, but also not a stack of bound paper, not inspired by literature) love cats/cats. They have a lot in common... Peace, silence, sofa, solitude... Touch with your paw /hand cover and pages, rub against the spine, sometimes even lick, sniff... And all in order to feel (physically) the aroma of time (paper, leather, etc.) and the author’s intention.”
That's how sublimely said... With love. To cats and books - that's for me! :))

Collection from the site www.tvoyapechat.ru
+
From Arkady Pugachevsky

For reference:

What is a bookplate?

Bookplate (from Latin ex libris - from books) is a small artistically designed label indicating that the book belongs to a specific person or library. Usually the bookplate was glued to the inside of the top cover of the binding.
All bookplates are monuments of their time, and their study is very important. It allows us to trace the fate of private libraries, find out their composition and place in the culture of Russia.
The birthplace of the bookplate is Germany. One of the first bookplates was created by the great artist Albrecht Durer. The most common subject of the first bookplates was the coat of arms of the library owner.
The first Russian bookplate, hand-drawn, belongs to the abbot of the Solovetsky library, Dosifei. It is simple: a large letter C, inside of which there is an inscription: “Holy Monk Dosifei.” At that time there were few libraries, and there were no prerequisites for the development of bookplates.
The printed book sign appeared in Russia only at the beginning of the 18th century. At first it was also an armorial one, but soon plot bookplates also appeared. A drawing and a short motto characterized the interests of the library owner.
The rapid growth of book publishing and book trade with European countries led to the creation of a large number of personal libraries. The associates of Peter I had very large, well-selected book collections for that time: D.M. Golitsyn, Ya.V. Bruce, A.A. Matveev. These were enlightened figures of the Petrine era. It was on their books that the first printed bookplates in Russia appeared - miniature wood engravings.
The library of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn (1665-1737) - a full member of the Supreme Privy Council - was the largest at that time and consisted of about 6,000 volumes. It was kept in his family estate - the famous village of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow. On the books of his collection there is a font bookplate in Latin: “Ex Bibliotheca Archangellina” - “From the Arkhangelsky Library”. This sign was made at the beginning of the 18th century.
Count Yakov Vilimovich Bruce (1670-1735) - Field Marshal, Senator, Berg and Manufactory Collegium President, participant in campaigns, organizer of the Navigation School in Moscow, one of the creators of Russian artillery - was the son of a native of Scotland, born in Moscow, received an excellent education, was a scientific secretary to Peter the Great. In the Battle of Poltava he commanded artillery and was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. For his outstanding services, he was awarded the title of count, and the engraved book sign depicts a coat of arms surrounded by a chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, on which we read the words; “For faith and fidelity.”
J. Bruce's library consisted of 1,500 volumes and had an encyclopedic character. It includes books on natural sciences, military art, philosophy, history, and medicine. According to the will, the entire library was transferred to the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg in 1785, and the first engraved book sign in Russia was pasted on the books, representing a complex heraldic composition characteristic of most armorial bookplates of the 18th century.
It was at this time that book collecting flourished in Russia. All of Europe knows the excellent book collections of Russian bibliophiles - A.K. Razumovsky, F.G. Golitsyna, N.P. Buturlina, N.P. Rumyantsev and others. Collecting books was considered the most important patriotic activity. Count Rumyantsev, for example, bequeathed his huge library (about 300,000 volumes and more than 700 manuscripts) to the people “for the benefit of the Fatherland and good enlightenment.” It formed the basis of the book fund of the famous Rumyantsev Public Library.
In the 19th century, coat of arms were replaced by monograms, type labels and stamps.
The monogram bookplate (from Polish “Wezel” - “knot”) represents the intertwined initial letters of the owner’s name and surname. Such, for example, is the sign of Prince Viktor Nikolaevich Gagarin (1844-1912), in which the owner’s initials are intertwined into a rather complex ornament, topped with a princely crown.
The change in the social composition of library owners contributed to the appearance of a large number of type book signs. They indicated only the name, patronymic and surname of the owner, sometimes even without the words “Ex libris”. Books in the libraries of writers N.S. are marked with such bookplates. Leskova, A.P. Chekhov, Count A.K. Tolstoy and others. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy had a modest sign in the form of a ring with the text “Yasnaya Polyana Library”. On books from the collection of V.Ya. Bryusov - from the stamp “Valery Bryusov”.
The most common type of book signs is the plot bookplate. It depicts everyday and genre scenes, elements of architectural structures, the interior of libraries, individual books and objects.
The first Russian plot bookplate was a book sign created more than 200 years ago by the famous engraver of that time G.I. Skorodumov (1755-1792) for the library of the State Chancellor of Russia Alexander Andreevich Bezborodko (1747-1799). It depicts a tree intertwined with a garland of flowers, and in the center of the composition there is a text engraved in a beautiful font with the title and surname of the owner.
More than a hundred years ago, artists paid little attention to plot bookplates. But at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, artists began to work on it, united around the magazine “World of Art” - A.N. Benoit, L.S. Bakst, I.Ya. Bilibin, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, B.M. Kustodiev, E.E. Lansere, D.I. Mitrokhin, G.I. Narbut, K.A. Somov, SV. Chekhonin and others. They created many highly artistic plot bookplates.
In the 20s, amazing bookplates were created in woodcuts by V.A. Favorsky, A.I. Kravchenko, N.I. Piskareva, N.P. Dmitrovsky. In the late 50s - early 60s. ex-librises of the most famous woodcuts of our time appeared: N. Kalita, A. Kalashnikov, D. Bisti.
But how many bookplates have been created in the entire history of their development? There are about a million book signs known in the world. More than one hundred thousand of them were created in Russia.

Bookplate (from Latin ex libris - from books) is a small artistically designed label indicating that the book belongs to a certain person or library. Usually the bookplate was glued to the inside of the top cover of the binding.

All bookplates are monuments of their time, and their study is very important. It allows us to trace the fate of private libraries, find out their composition and place in Russian culture.

The first Russian bookplate, hand-drawn, belongs to the abbot of the Solovetsky library, Dosifei. It is simple: a large letter C, inside of which is the inscription: “Holy Monk Dosifei.” At that time there were few libraries, and there were no prerequisites for the development of bookplates.

The printed book sign appeared in Russia only at the beginning of the 18th century. At first it was also an armorial one, but soon plot bookplates also appeared. A drawing and a short motto characterized the interests of the library owner.

The rapid growth of book publishing and book trade with European countries led to the creation of a large number of personal libraries. Companions of Peter I had very large, well-selected book collections for that time: D.M. Golitsyn, Ya.V. Bruce, A.A. Matveev. These were enlightened figures of the Petrine era. It was on their books that the first printed bookplates in Russia appeared - miniature wood engravings.

The library of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn (1665-1737), a full member of the Supreme Privy Council, was the largest at that time and consisted of about 6,000 volumes. It was kept in his family estate - the famous village of Arkhangelskoye near Moscow. On the books of his collection there is a font bookplate in Latin: “Ex Bibliotheca Archangellina” - “From the Archangelsky Library”. This sign was made at the beginning of the 18th century.

Count Yakov Vilimovich Bruce (1670-1735) - Field Marshal, Senator, Berg and Manufactory Collegium President, participant in campaigns, organizer of the Navigation School in Moscow, one of the creators of Russian artillery - was the son of a native of Scotland, was born in Moscow, received an excellent education, was the scientific secretary of Peter the Great. In the Battle of Poltava he commanded artillery and was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. For his outstanding services, he was awarded the title of count, and the engraved book sign depicts a coat of arms surrounded by a chain of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, on which we read the words; "For faith and fidelity."

J. Bruce's library consisted of 1,500 volumes and was encyclopedic in nature. It includes books on natural sciences, military art, philosophy, history, and medicine. According to the will, the entire library was transferred to the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg in 1785, and the first engraved book sign in Russia was pasted on the books, representing a complex heraldic composition characteristic of most armorial bookplates of the 18th century.

It was at this time that book collecting flourished in Russia. All of Europe knows the excellent book collections of Russian bibliophiles - A.K. Razumovsky, F.G. Golitsyna, N.P. Buturlina, N.P. Rumyantsev and others. Collecting books was considered the most important patriotic activity. Count Rumyantsev, for example, bequeathed his huge library (about 300,000 volumes and more than 700 manuscripts) to the people “for the benefit of the Fatherland and good enlightenment.” It formed the basis of the book collection of the famous Rumyantsev Public Library.

In the 19th century, book emblems were replaced by monograms, type labels and stamps.

The monogram bookplate (from the Polish “Wezel” - “knot”) represents the intertwined initial letters of the owner’s first and last name. Such, for example, is the sign of Prince Viktor Nikolaevich Gagarin (1844-1912), in which the owner’s initials are intertwined into a rather complex ornament, topped with a princely crown.

The change in the social composition of library owners contributed to the emergence of a large number of type book signs. They indicated only the name, patronymic and surname of the owner, sometimes even without the words “Ex libris”. Books in the libraries of writers N.S. are marked with such bookplates. Leskova, A.P. Chekhov, Count A.K. Tolstoy and others. Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy had a modest sign in the form of a ring with the text “Yasnaya Polyana Library”. On books from the collection of V.Ya. Bryusov - an impression of the stamp “Valery Bryusov”.

The most common type of book signs is the plot bookplate. It depicts everyday and genre scenes, elements of architectural structures, the interior of libraries, individual books and objects.

The first Russian plot bookplate was a book sign created more than 200 years ago by the famous engraver of that time G.I. Skorodumov (1755-1792) for the library of the State Chancellor of Russia Alexander Andreevich Bezborodko (1747-1799). It depicts a tree intertwined with a garland of flowers, and in the center of the composition there is a text engraved in a beautiful font with the title and surname of the owner.

More than a hundred years ago, artists paid little attention to the plot bookplate. But at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, artists began to work on it, united around the magazine “World of Art” - A.N. Benoit, L.S. Bakst, I.Ya. Bilibin, M.V. Dobuzhinsky, B.M. Kustodiev, E.E. Lansere, D.I. Mitrokhin, G.I. Narbut, K.A. Somov, SV. Chekhonin and others. They created many highly artistic plot bookplates.

In the 20s, amazing bookplates were created in woodcuts by V.A. Favorsky, A.I. Kravchenko, N.I. Piskareva, N.P. Dmitrovsky. In the late 50's - early 60's. Bookplates of the most famous xylographs of our time appeared: N. Kalita, A. Kalashnikov, D. Bisti.

But how many bookplates have been created in the entire history of their development? There are about a million book signs known in the world. More than one hundred thousand of them were created in Russia.

A.V. Predtechensky was born in the city of Konskie in the former Radom province (now part of the Lodz Voivodeship in Poland). His father, a military doctor, served in one of the military units stationed in Konsk. In 1899, due to the transfer of his father, the family moved to Moscow. In 1903 A.V. Predtechensky entered the 7th Moscow Gymnasium. Since 1908, after the death of his mother (his father died in 1905), he moved to St. Petersburg, where he lived with his older sisters.
In 1911 A.V. Predtechensky graduated from the Vvedensky Gymnasium and entered the Faculty of History and Philology of St. Petersburg University. All this time he had to live on his father’s modest pension and the funds earned by his lessons. For military service A.V. Predtechensky was not drafted due to loss of vision in his right eye as a result of an accident. During his high school and student years, he studied music professionally, taking piano lessons from A.I. Yurasovsky, published reviews of concerts in various magazines, and tried to compose music himself. Attended seminary at university
A.E. Presnyakov and S.F. Platonov. It was probably then that A.V.’s interest was formed. Predtechensky to the history of Russia, and in particular to the Alexander era, the time of the Decembrists.
In 1918, having completed a university course, but not having time to pass state exams, A.V. Predtechensky was forced to leave Petrograd. Seconded through the newly created Commission for the Study of the Tribal Composition of the Population of Russia (CIPS) at the Academy of Sciences, he found himself first in the Orenburg province (in Miass), and then in Tomsk, in territory occupied by whites. He worked, gave occasional lectures (including at music courses in Tomsk), and contributed to local newspapers.
At the end of 1920, after the defeat of the whites A.V. Predtechensky managed to return to Petrograd. For the next decade he was absorbed in intense teaching work. First, Anatoly Vasilyevich lectured on history at the Naval College, then - for more than 10 years - at the Naval School named after. M.V. Frunze, taught lessons in ordinary labor schools, factory departments, technical schools, and workers' faculties for mechanical engineers, railway workers, and geologists. Even then, Anatoly Vasilyevich’s lecturing skills received high recognition. It is no coincidence that one of his first printed works was the “Working Book on History,” written jointly with the historian
A.A. Vvedensky and stood in 1928-1929. four editions.
In 1924 A.V. Predtechensky resumes his studies in science. A year earlier, he managed to obtain a university diploma.
Since the mid-20s A.V. Predtechensky actively participates in the work of the Leningrad session on the study of the Decembrists and their time at the All-Union Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers, which at that time was headed by A.E. Presnyakov. The first serious works of Anatoly Vasilyevich were also published in the publications of the Society of Political Prisoners: the publication “Memoirs of Polina Annenkova” (1929); "Nikolaevskaya Russia" (1930); “Chronicle of the Peter and Paul Fortress” (1931); “Unrest of workers in the serf era”, etc.
In 1933 A.V. Predtechensky was hired as a staff member at the Leningrad branch of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences. In 1935 he received a Candidate of Historical Sciences degree without defending a dissertation, and in March 1941 he defended his doctoral dissertation “Government Policy and Public Sentiment in the Early 19th Century.”
In 1934 A.V. Predtechensky was invited to the Leningrad Pedagogical Institute named after
M.N. Pokrovsky, and in 1937 - at Leningrad State University as a professor in the Department of History of the Peoples of the USSR, Faculty of History. Both at the pedagogical institute and at the university he teaches a general course on the history of Russia, a number of special courses - on the history of domestic and foreign policy in the first quarter of the 19th century, the history of Russian culture, special courses “The Patriotic War of 1812”, “Decembrists”. His brilliant skill and erudition captivate the student audience. The pre-war years, however, were overshadowed by misfortune for the family: in 1938, following a denunciation, the son of A.V. was arrested by the GPU. Predtechensky Anatoly, student of the history department of the university. After 11 months in prison, he was released among the few amnestied after the “exposure” of Yezhov and Beria’s rise to the leadership of the NKVD.
In the first months of the Great Patriotic War, A.V. Predtechensky continued to work actively at LOII and the university. On November 5, 1941, he was evacuated from besieged Leningrad along with a group of LOII employees to Tashkent. He lived in evacuation until August 1944 - he taught at the Tashkent Pedagogical Institute of Friendship of Peoples, went to give lectures to military units, and published brochures on military topics. After the war
A.V. Predtechensky was awarded the medals “For the Defense of Leningrad” and “For Participation in the Great Patriotic War.”
In 1944, after the return of the main staff of Leningrad State University from evacuation, A.V. Predtechensky was summoned from Tashkent and reinstated at the Department of History of the USSR. In 1946, he was confirmed with the rank of professor, taught a special seminar on the history of social thought and government policy under Alexander I at the Faculty of History, and continued to teach special courses on this era.
In 1949, during the fight against “cosmopolitanism and sycophancy” in science, the situation became more complicated
A.V. Predtechenskogo within the walls of the university and LOII. The historian was subjected to unfounded criticism, reminiscent of sanctioned persecution. He was accused of “objectivism” and “admiration of foreignness.” It was almost impossible to print anything in such a situation. Book
A.V. Predtechensky was destroyed in November 1949 already in the set; his other works were returned by the editors.
In 1953, during the company to liquidate LOII, A.V. Predtechensky was charged with scientific unproductivity, which was reflected in a special resolution of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences. After the closure of the LOII, the historian addressed the Presidium with a personal letter, convincingly proving the senselessness of the accusations made. The consequence of this, apparently, was permission to move to the recently opened Institute of the History of Natural Science and Technology at the Academy of Sciences, where Anatoly Vasilyevich worked for the last 11-12 years, which became the most fruitful in a creative sense. Here his talent as an editor and organizer of large-scale publications was fully revealed. A.V. Predtechensky actually led the preparation of two volumes of the “History of the Academy of Sciences” (1958, 1964) and, in addition, was one of the authors of this publication; he also participated in the writing of “Essays on the History of Leningrad” (volumes 1 and 3).
Since 1958 A.V. Predtechensky is also a professor at the newly opened Faculty of Journalism at Leningrad State University.
At the end of the 50s A.V. Predtechensky began collecting material for a future study on military settlements in Russia, and managed to publish two short articles on this topic. However, a serious illness stopped the work that had already begun.
A.V. Predtechensky died on April 29, 1966, leaving, in addition to his books and articles, a rich archive with unpublished manuscripts, including articles on the history of journalism, culture, social thought, memories of the concert life of his native city and outstanding musicians, several letters from S. IN. Rachmaninov, sketches about music, letters, diaries.
In 2001, the book collection of A.V. Predtechensky, numbering 935 copies, was purchased with money from a grant from the Open Society Institute Soros Foundation No. HBC813 under the “Department Support Program” received by the Department of History of Pre-Revolutionary Russia and transferred to our library.
Among these books, many were published in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Prof. A.V. Predtechensky purposefully selected books on the history of Russia in the first half of the 19th century, and this included the history of art, the history of journalism, and literature, as well as the history of St. Petersburg - Leningrad. The collection contains many books donated by authors. Among them are such famous historians and philologists as Yu.M. Lotman, M.V. Nechkina, B.M. Eikhenbaum, M.K. Azadovsky, S.N. Kovalev, V.V. Mavrodin, many Karelian scientists.
In the catalog of the Scientific Library of PetrSU all books from the collection of A.V. Predtechenskogo are marked with the letter “P” before the code; there is also a printed catalog of the collection. Bookplate A.V. Predtechensky, created after his death, belongs to the “memorial” book signs that began to be used long before the 20th century.