The materials in this presentation comprise the illustrational (and, in selected cases, textual) content of nearly 100 published works dating from the period circa 1830 to 1935, although there are individual titles dating from the 18th century, as well as high-quality, limited edition 19th-century reprints of much earlier materials. The illustrations represent an equally broad variety of production techniques which range from wood block printing, engraving (some hand-colored) and etching, to lithography, chromolithography and photo offset printing. Thematically, these volumes are highly diverse. It is, in essence, a "culturological" collection, documenting not only art and architecture, but also topics ranging from archaeological digs to typeface design and subway planning.
It must be emphasized that the content of these albums is not strictly Eastern European. Russia was a globe-spanning Empire, and, like other great powers, sought to document the peoples, lands, and resources in its dominions. As a consequence, a large number of the volumes digitized here were produced within the borders of the Russian Empire and Eastern Europe, but concern places and subjects that are neither geographically nor ethnically Slavic or East European. For example, there are plate books concerning pre-Classical, Classical (Greek and Roman), Byzantine, Islamic, and Asian civilizations. Russia's ethnographers, botanists, restorers, travelers, and archaeologists ranged all over the globe, documenting natural and man-made wonders wherever they occurred. One encounters, for example, illustrated 19th century travel accounts of the Ionian islands, Greece, and Turkey, architectural drawings of the Norman Palatine Chapel in Palermo, and the Russian Archeological Commission's work on Eastern silver.
Ownership: Presented by Mrs. Henry Draper to the New York Public Library.
Content: Published in memory of A.A. Nezarov. 419 plates with 1-3 images per plate. Introductory text by Likhachev and indexes in Russian and French. NEH Preservation and Access "Art and Architectural Images from Eastern Europe and Eurasia."
Content: In portfolios.
Content: Planned to form v. 5-6 of the complete work (cf. introductory note); the text was never published.
Content: "Posv︠i︡ashchaets︠i︡a nezabvennoĭ pam︠i︡ati Aleksandra Aleksandrovicha Nazarova."
Funding: NEH Preservation and Access "Art and Architectural Images from Eastern Europe and Eurasia.
Physical Description
Extent: 2 v., [419] leaves of plates : ill. ; 46 cm
