Article

Name: Shakespeare’s heritage in the Stroganovs’ book collection in Tomsk University Research Library

Authors: I. A. Poplavskaya, I. V. Novitskaya

National Research Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper presents a case study of several publications in English and German related to the oeuvre of Shakespeare: «The plays of Shakespeare» (1793), «Collection of Prints, From Pictures Painted for the Purpose of Illustrating the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare, by the Artists of Great- Britain» (1791–1804), «Gallerie zu Shakspeare’s Dramatischen Werken. In Umrissen erfunden und gestochen von Moritz Retzsch» (1828) and «The Shakspeare Gallery, Containing the Principal Female Characters in the Plays of the Great Poet» (1836). The key premise here is the assumption that these works, which are a part of the personal library that used to belong to the aristocratic family of Earl Grigoriy A. Stroganov (1770–1857), contributed to the formation of the national myth about W. Shakespeare in the English literature of the XVIIIth century and were indicative of the evolving «Shakespeare studies» in the West European countries and Russia. It is argued that Shakespeare’s chronicles are illustrative of how the imperial myth in the English literature of the Renaissance period was being constructed. What was functioning as a scaffolding for the myth to emerge was an evolving feeling of the national identity based on a dialogue between the «Englishness» that reflected the dominance of the English nation in the political and cultural areas of life in the country and the «Britishness» viewed as an opportunity to unite peoples institutionally and culturally under the aegis of the enlightened monarchy. The graphic works in the Stroganovs’ library should be regarded as an illustration of an expanding trend of cultural appropriation of Shakespeare’s ideas encompassing West European visual arts in the XVIII–XIXth centuries. The English playwright was the first in the European literature to portray the utmost degree of moral sufferings, which inspired painters and engravers to use visual tools in order to produce an enhanced and insightful perception of the characters and their emotional conditions both on the verbal and visual levels. Attempts to convey people’s inner feelings and emotions entailed new reflections on the concept of femininity in literature and visual arts which was considered as the nature embodiment opposite to masculinity. In addition, M. Retzsch’s drawings are analyzed in the light of the formation of the «Hamlet-type» text in the German paintings at the beginning of the XIXth century.

Keywords: library, the Stroganovs, Shakespeare, Shakespeare studies, literature, graphic works, imperial myth, «Hamlet-type» text

Bibliography:

Anikst A. A. Tvorchestvo Shekspira [The works of Shakespeare]. Moscow. Goslitizdat, 1963, 616 p.

Barczewski S. Myth and National in 19th Century Britain: the Legends of King Artur and Robin Hood. Oxford Univ. Press, 2000.

Brunet J. C. Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur des livres. Paris, Librairie de Fermin Didot Freres, fils et C. , 1864, vol. 5, col. 361.

Dashevskaya O. A. Izdaniya nemetskogo khudozhnika M. Retcha v biblioteke grafov Stroganovykh, khranyashcheysya v Nauchnoy biblioteke Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Publications of the German painter M. Retzsch from the Stroganovs’ library which are kept in Research Library of Tomsk State Univ.]. Text. Book. Publishing. 2013, no. 1(3), pp. 58–75.

Diplomaticheskiy slovar’: V 2 t. [Diplomatic dictionary: in 2 vols]. Moscow, Nauka, 1950.

Friedman W. H. Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery. New York: Garland Publ. Inc., 1976.

Hoeselaars A. J. Images of English and Foreigners in the Drama of Shakespeare and His Contemporairies: A Stage of Characters and National Identity in English Renaissance Drama 1558–1642. London; Toronto, Associated Univ. Press, 1992.

Karamzin N. M. Pis’ma russkogo puteshestvennika [Letters of the Russian traveler]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1987, 717 p.

Khabibullina L. F. Imperskiy mif v angliyskoy literature epokhi Vozrozhdeniya [Imperial myth in the English literature of Renaissance]. Humanitarian researches. 2010, no. 1(33), pp. 120–124.

Kolosova G. I. “Dukhovnoe pokorenie Sibiri”: k voprosu ob istorii knizhnogo sobraniya G. A. Stroganova v Nauchnoy biblioteke Tomskogo universiteta [“Spiritual conquest of Siberia”: to the history of G. A. Stroganov’s library in Research Library of Tomsk State University]. Istoriya bibliotek skvoz’ veka: Sb. RNB: Materialy Mezhdunar. nauch. konf., S.-Peterburg, 14–16 oktyabrya 2008 g. [History of libraries through centuries. RNB collection: materials of International scientific conf., October 14–16, 2008]. St. Petersburg, 2010, iss. 8, pp. 252–263.

Kruptseva O. V. Ekslibrisy v knizhnom sobranii grafa G. A. Stroganova [Exlibris in the library of Count G. A. Stroganov]. Tomsk State University Journal of Cultural Studies and Art. 2013, no. 2(10), pp. 78–86.

Lenman B. England’s Colonial Wars 1550–1688: Conflicts, Empire and National Identity. London; New York, Longman, 2001.

Levin Yu. D. Vospriyatie angliyskoy literatury v Rossii: Issled. i materialy [Perception of the English literature in Russia: Studies and materials]. Leningrad, Nauka, Leningr. otd. 1990, 285 p.

Lukov Vl. A. Predromantizm [Before Romanticism]. Moscow, Nauka, 2006, 683 p.

Lukov Vl. A., Zakharov N. V., Gaydin B. N. Shekspirovskie shtudii IV. Gamlet kak vechnyy obraz russkoy i mirovoy kul’tury: Monogr. [Shakespeare studies IV. Hamlet as an eternal character of the Russian and world culture. Monograph]. Moscow, 2010, 87 p.

Martineau J., Shawe-Taylor D. Shakespeare in Art. London; N. Y., Merrell, 2003.

Mify narodov mira: V 2 t. [Myths of the peoples in the world: in 2 vols]. Moscow, 1997.

Murdock A. British History 1660–1832: National Identity and Local Culture. London, Mac-Millan Press; N. Y., St. Martin`s Press, 1998.

Novitskaya I. V. Drevnegermanskie abstraktnye sushchestvitel’nye: Kognitivnye osnovaniya stanovleniya slovoobrazovatel’nykh tipov (na materiale gotskogo, drevneverkhnenemetskogo I drevneislandskogo yazykov) [Old Germanic abstract nouns: cognitive bases for the development of word-formation types (a case study of Gothic, Old High German and Old Icelandic data)]. Abstract of Doct. philol. sci. diss. Barnaul, 2014, 40 p.

Pinskiy L. E. Shekspir. Osnovnye nachala dramaturgii [Shakespeare. Basics of drama]. Moscow, Khudozh. lit., 1971, 606 p.

Pol’ Zh. Prigotovitel’naya shkola estetiki [Preparatory school of aesthetics]. Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1981, 448 p.

Poplavskaya I. A. Problemy izucheniya biblioteki Stroganovykh v Tomske: knigi frantsuzskikh pisateley XIX v. [Problems concerning studies of the stroganovs’ library in Tomsk: books of French writes of the 19th century]. Tomsk State Univ. Journal of Philology. 2012, no. 4(20), pp. 87–97.

Popova M. K. Natsional’naya identichnost’ i ee otrazhenie v khudozhestvennom soznanii [National identity and its reflection in the artistic consciousness]. Voronezh, 2004, 170 p.

Saplin A. I. Rossiyskiy posol v Ispanii (1805–1809 gg.) [Russian ambassador in Spain (1805–1809)]. Voprosy istorii. 1987, no. 3, pp. 178–184.

Stal’ Zh., de. O literature, rassmotrennoy v svyazi s obshchestvennymi ustanovleniyami [About literature considered in the light of social conventions]. Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1989, 475 p.

Vasen’kin N. V. Ob odnoy kollektsii angliyskoy gravyury XVIII veka v fondakh Nauchnoy biblioteki Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta (Iz biblioteki Stroganovyh) [About one collection of English engravings of the 18th century in the Research Library of Tomsk State University (From the Stroganovs’ library)]. In: Teoriya i praktika razvitiya v khudozhestvennykh muzeyakh Sibiri: Materialy regional’noy nauch.-prakt. konf., Tomsk, 5–10 oktyabrya 2004 g. [Theory and practice of development in the art museums of Siberia: Materials of regional scientific and practical conf. Tomsk, October 5–10, 2004]. Tomsk, 2005, pp. 91–96.

Vasen’kin N. V. Shekspir v angliyskoy gravyure XVIII veka. Iz fondov Nauchnoy biblioteki Tomskogo universiteta: Katalog [Shakespeare in the English engravings of the 18th century. From the book collection of the Research Library of Tomsk State University. Catalogue]. Tomsk, 2012, 81 p.

Vinitskiy I. Yu. Nechto o privideniyakh: istorii o russkoy literaturnoy mifologii XIX veka [Something about ghosts: history of the Russian literary mythology of the 19th century]. Moscow, izd. Mosk. kul’turologicheskogo litseya, 1998, vol. 3, 319 p.

Yeyts F. Poslednie p’esy Shekspira: Novyy podkhod [Shakespeare’s last plays: new approach]. New Literary Observer. 1999, no. 35. URL: http://magazines.russ.ru/nlo/1999/35/shek.html (accessed 08.05.2017).

Zheravina O. A. Londonskie izdaniya na angliyskom yazyke v rodovoy biblioteke Stroganovykh [London publications in English in the family library of the Stroganovs]. Text. Book. Publishing. 2014, no. 2(6), pp. 49–55.