Commemorative Book of 1853
Books & Magazines
Inventory number
2024.11.26.1.BM.BO.1853.RUDescription
Official memorial book of St.Petersburg for the year 1853. The book features a red leather binding with an integrated flap enclosure. The flap, cover, and spine are each embossed with gilt frames of scrolled foliate motifs. The spine reads "Commemorative Book 1853" in cyrillic. The textblock features gilt edges and a bound bookmark of red silk ribbon. The book commences with a menology of the saints followed by an administrative directory of the military department, marine department, court staff, and civil office, succeeded by postal and administrative regulations. In total the book contains twenty engravings with their tissue gaurds: fourteen illustrations placed at the beginning of each section, two tables of fire signals, and a four page table of the menologium.Russian commemorative books were official reference books published annually by each governorate or provincial institution from the 1830s up until the 1917 revolution. They often contained indexes, calendars, administrative directories and statistical data. Russian commemorative books are of particular historical value as they provide detailed information regarding the structure and nature of the administration in a given place and time. St.Petersburg was the seat and capital of the Imperial Administration from 1712-1917, with the exception of a short-lived relocation by Empress Catherine I between 1728-1732. Tsar Nicholas I was the Emporor of Russia in 1853 until his death in 1855. The year 1853 marks the start of the early stages of the Crimean War which would last until the Russian Military's defeat in 1856. This defeat revealed the inefficiencies within the Russian Empire and its military and ultimately led to the successive reforms and modernisation under Tsar Alexander II. The menology or menologiun is an organised calendar of the saints and their feast days according to the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Materials
leatherPaper
Origin
1853 St.Petersburg, RussiaDimensions
Width : 2.9972 cmLength : 8.509 cm
Height : 11.5062 cm