The Romanovs: Their Empire, Their
Books.
The Political, Religious, Cultural, and Social Life of Russia's Imperial House
Case
10: Western Perspectives
Portraits of Alexander
I, and
Napoleon Bonaparte with their
respective staffs at the Erfurt
Conference of 1808. From Friedrich
Justin Bertuch, 1747-1822, supposed
author. Beschreibung der
Feierlichkeiten welche bei
Anwesenheit von Ihren Majestäten
der Kaiser Alexander und Napoleon...
October 1808... (Weimar, 1809).
From the library of Duke George,
son of George, Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
NYPL, General Research Division.
Photographic Services & Permissions
It is important to keep in mind that The New York
Public Library's beautiful and unusual books from
imperial palaces constitute only one component
of its documentation of the vast Russian empire,
Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. This section contains
a small selection of Western views of the Russia
of the Romanovs, drawn from the Library's non-Slavic-language
holdings. Such materials are found in all four
research centers of the Library, and constitute
one of North America's greatest rare Rossica collections
(i.e., works about Russia by foreigners). The collection
is particularly distinguished by its underlying
intellectual unity – this in spite of its
linguistic and subject heterogeneity – reflecting
the careful selections made by generations of curators
and librarians.
A number of the themes encountered elsewhere in
this exhibit are reflected here as well. Regardless
of their specific textual or visual content, the
items displayed reflect the West's long-standing
fascination with Europe's last – and perhaps
greatest – empire.
Next Section: Acknowledgments
