By ANDREI I. PLIGUZOV and BARBARA L. DASH
![An illustration of Peter II, grandson of Peter the Great, from the Decrees ... of Catherine the Great, 1777.](images/russian_1.jpg)
An illustration of Peter II, grandson of Peter the Great, from the Decrees ... of Catherine the Great, 1777.
The Library of Congress has the most complete collection of 18th century Russian publications outside of Russia and Ukraine. One of its more notable components is the 18th Century Russian Law Collection, some 123 titles in 154 volumes, all published in Russia between 1715 and 1801.
During the 1990s, the Library launched a project to make the contents of this rare book collection more accessible to researchers. The result is a recently produced microfilm of the full text of the volumes as well as commentary on this now fully cataloged collection. The collection is notable not only for its importance to the study of Russian history and the development of Russian law, but as a record of Russian printing, publishing and illustration during the period of Peter and Catherine the Great.
Sources of the Collection
The Library's 18th century Russian holdings of books, periodicals, documents and other manuscripts were acquired primarily with the Yudin library, purchased from Siberian wine merchant and book collector Gennadii Vasil'evich Yudin in 1906, and through book dealers who obtained Russian Imperial publications through Soviet channels from the 1920s to the early 1950s. Foremost among these was American book dealer Israel Perlstein, who purchased large numbers of books from the former Imperial libraries between 1931 and 1936, first in St. Petersburg and then in New York through the Soviet agency Amtorg.
![A new imperial coat of arms proposed by Emporer Paul I. Majesty Emporer Paul the First (1796-1800)](images/russian_2.jpg)
A new imperial coat of arms proposed by Emporer Paul I. Majesty Emporer Paul the First (1796-1800)
Yudin's carefully selected library included about 80,000 books. Its strengths ranged from Russian and particularly Siberian history, including geography, travel and exploration, to rare Russian literary editions and full sets of now scarce Russian periodicals. Yudin acquired his books during his travels through Russia and Europe and through dealers and other agents in Moscow and St. Petersburg, sometimes with the aid of the telegraph. At a time of upheaval in Russia, with both the safekeeping of the collection and U.S.-Russian relations in mind, Yudin offered his library to the Library of Congress for a fraction of its value. His library in Siberia originally held at least 500,000 manuscripts. Relating to the law, the Yudin Collection includes works tracing the development of Russia's political institutions, a full set of the Russian Code from the 1840s to 1850s, and a number of 18th century imprints.
Perlstein's main source was the Winter Palace, the residence of the czars, and almost all of the material he acquired had belonged to the Imperial family. In all, by the mid-1950s the Library of Congress purchased 2,600 Russian Imperial volumes. Librarian of Congress Herbert Putnam's first purchases from Perlstein were predominantly law books, and he maintained a strong interest in law materials throughout his dealings with Perlstein. Perlstein also donated a number of items to the Library, including a collection (about 74 items) of manuscript and ephemeral material dating from the early 17th through early 20th centuries.
![An illustration of cast iron weights and balances from the extensive Decress of His Majesty Emperor Paul the First (1796-1800).](images/russian_3.jpg)
An illustration of cast iron weights and balances from the extensive Decress of His Majesty Emperor Paul the First (1796-1800).
Most of the manuscript materials, including many charters and other legal documents, reside in the Library's Manuscript Division. In addition, between 1931 and 1944, the Library acquired 267 individually published decrees dating from about 1730 to 1800. These decrees, held by the Law Library, are extremely rare. They include, for example, what appears to be a unique copy of a 1724 decree of Peter the Great published after 1730. The Law Library holds as well a collection of 48 Russian manuscript scrolls ranging in length from 6 inches to 67 feet and dating from the early 17th century into the mid-18th century.
Rare Books
Eighteenth century books are the most valuable part of the Law Library's Russian collections. Among the 154 18th century Russian volumes that have been identified among the Law Library's holdings are several unique items. The earliest example is a Russian translation of the French code of naval law — originally published in Paris in 1689 as Ordonnance de Louis XIV pour les armees navales et arcenaux de marine and subsequently published in St. Petersburg in 1715 under Peter the Great's close supervision. The Library of Congress has what appears to be a "proof copy" with manuscript corrections and notes throughout the text in black ink by the translator, Konon Nikitich Zotov, and in red ink by the proofreaders.
The Law Library's collection also includes at least eight large compilations of decrees and edicts issued by Paul I that have no match in the Russian union catalogs or other bibliographies. These are the Decrees of His Majesty Emperor Paul the First, compiled between 1796 and 1800. The last of these includes decrees issued during the first six months of the reign of Alexander I and letters to Paul and Alexander from the Senate. Other titles that appear to be unique and are unlisted in Russian bibliographies are Catherine II's Regulations on Public Education … and a 1797 report on the Senate's "law school" for the military elite.
![Engravings by Russian artists highlight this volume on military education, 1766.](images/russian_4.jpg)
Engravings by Russian artists highlight this volume on military education, 1766.
Other especially rare items are the various early works on Russian military law and naval law. In his Spiritual Law, Peter the Great placed the state in authority over the Church. The Library of Congress has a second edition of this work (1722), a year after the first printing, and a fourth edition (1738), which appears to be unrecorded in Russian bibliographies. The 1763 and 1764 editions of the Decrees … of Catherine the Great include her Manifesto, which was removed from many copies in 1797 by order of Paul I.
Perhaps of broadest interest is the written testimony of Peter the Great's son, the Czarevich Alexis, whom Peter had brought to trial for treason against the state. Alexis's Declaration, 1718, includes letters of both father and son and transcripts of the interrogation and judgment, which resulted in Alexis's execution.
An important religious text is the Kormchaia kniga or Nomocanon, represented here in a 1787 Church Slavic edition based on the Patriarch Nikon's 1652-1653 version. Among other topics addressed in the collection are naval salutes, Danish naval law, treaties with foreign powers, the Russo-Turkish War of 1736-1739, commercial treaties between Russia and Turkey, negotiable instruments in Swedish and Russian law, and Chinese criminal law. Economic topics include bankruptcy, real property, the budget and the Russian municipal government. Related topics are public finance, tariffs and customs administration, land tenure and serfdom, and the census and poll taxes, as well as regulation of the salt industry and liquor laws. Also addressed are education, child rearing, military education and compulsory Russian military service.
![An engraiving of Alexis, the second Romanov Tsar, from the book's frontispiece](images/russian_5.jpg)
An engraiving of Alexis, the second Romanov Tsar, from the book's frontispiece
Discussions of the law itself and the legal system include 18th century treatments of Russian medieval law and laws enacted by Ivan IV and Alexis Mikhailovich, the administration of justice and courts in Russia, jurisprudence, law reform, Russian maritime law and a commentary on the Russian court system. In addition, there are legal dictionaries.
Also of interest are Peter I's regulations concerning Russian executive
departments; Catherine II's laws governing the Russian nobility and municipal
corporations; a hierarchy of military and civil ranks; statutes published
in 1782 and 1794 on the military and civil Order of St. George the Victorious,
established by Catherine II in 1769; and Paul I's rulings on Imperial lineage
and conduct; as well as a decree on the sentencing and execution of one Vasilii
Mirovich.
Bindings and Other Physical Characteristics
Most of the books in the 18th Century Russian Law Collection are in original or contemporary bindings, including colored and decorated papers; plain, speckled or mottled brown calf, some tooled in blind (uncolored embossing) or gilt; and red or dark-blue or green morocco, often with gold tooling. Interesting examples include a 1717 publication bound in shiny, brown-stained calf ("Russia leather") over pasteboard with a spine lining or guard of 17th century waste paper printed in red and black. There are blue-gray paper wrappers, a volume in brown and white marbled paper wrappers with brown and white marbling on all edges, green paste-paper wrappers, a signed doublure binding, a volume in a silk brocade folder and a velvet binding appliqued and embroidered with silk, gold thread and sequins.
![A page from the text with engraved illustrations.](images/russian_6.jpg)
A page from the text with engraved illustrations.
An examination of the handmade paper used in the texts identifies paper manufactured in Yaroslavl in the 1730s, paper in several shades of blue, almost certainly from France, watermarks from the 1780s and a variety of monograms and legends in watermarks and countermarks. Printing devices include Imperial monograms and arms and the monograms of prominent Russian printers. Some volumes have engraved portraits and other illustrations or elaborate engraved borders with military motifs. The collection also displays a variety of Imperial and other arms and ownership monograms tooled on the covers in blind or gilt, as well as a variety of bookplates and inscriptions.
Some of the more fragile books in the collection were given conservation treatment and preservation housings by staff of the Library's Conservation Office. The books reside in the Law Library, where they may be requested through the rare book librarian. The microfilm may be purchased through the Library's Photoduplication Service (www.loc.gov/preserv/pds).
A handwritten manuscript note added in 1780 about new legislation for landowners, laid between pages 60 and 61.
Mr. Pliguzov is a leading Russian historian, author and lecturer. On grants from Harvard's Russian Research Center and the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C., Mr. Pliguzov has made major contributions in describing the Library's Russian collections. Ms. Dash is a senior rare book cataloger in the Library's Special Materials Cataloging Division, where she specializes in Russian and Romance language collections. She has provided bibliographic descriptions of the 18th century Russian law material. Other contributors to the 18th Century Russian Law Project include Rose Marie Clemandot, chief of collections for the Law Library of Congress and project coordinator; James Martin and David Rabasca, reference librarians in the Law Library; Paul Frank, a former Slavic materials shelf lister who is currently a music cataloger in the Special Materials Cataloging Division; Luis de Castro, a former collections processing technician in the Law Library who is currently a technical support assistant in the Congressional Research Service; attorney Bela Tarasulo, trained in Moscow, who has conducted research in the Law Library and the Library's European Division; and the late David Kraus of the European Division.