Report by N. P. Likhachev on Russian bibliophils (1924)

Abstract

This publication contains the minutes of the July 25, 1924, meeting of the Russian Society of Friends of the Book, at which the distinguished historian, source scholar, art historian, and collector Academician N. P. Likhachev (1862–1936) delivered a report. As follows from the detailed notes, the scholar recounted the beginnings of his passion for collecting books, offered his own understanding of “bibliophilia”, which he interpreted as “a type of collecting”, and listed five types of bibliophiles. He focused on famous book collectors, providing vivid characterizations of F. I. Buslaev, A. F. Bychkov, Prince P. P. Vyazemsky, P. Ya. Dashkov, A. A. Kunik, D. F. Kobeko, F. F. Mazurin, the philosopher N. F. Fedorov, the antiquarian booksellers V. I. Klochkov and P. P. Shibanov, and others. He mentioned curious incidents that occurred during the purchasing and publication of books. N. P. Likhachev was convinced of the fundamental difference between Russian collectors and European and American ones. According to Likhachev, in Russia they “burn with all their souls” and “tremble over books”, while foreigners are only occupied with “the pursuit of unique books”. The preface to the publication reconstructs the history of the report, which was initially planned for July 18, and shows its relationship with the speech given at the same society on June 26, 1925, and dedicated to foreign second-hand booksellers and book collectors (published in 1991). These speeches constituted a unique memoir cycle about the bibliophilic activities of N. P. Likhachev. Two typewritten versions of the 1924 report have survived (one is in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, the other in the Manuscript Department of the Russian State Library), the texts of which are almost identical, and a comparative source analysis is conducted.