Dedications and autographs on the rare stock books of the Central Scientific Library of the Irkutsk Scientific Center of SB RAS

Abstract

Today it is widely practiced to exhibit autographs, inscriptions at exhibitions in museums, institutions of science, education and culture. This is due to the increased interest in the history of scientific research, personal and official relation-ships of people, and testifies to the urgency of the problem, that requires the attention of specialists.

According to Brockhaus and Efron, «the autographs of famous scientists, writers and poets constitute the true treasure of libraries ...» (Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron, St. Petersburg, 1890. T. 1, p. 123). Autographs, inscriptions on books can serve as an additional source of information about any author’s life, era, scientific or cultural phenomenon. In the libraries of the Academy of Sciences, one can find literature with autographs, donation inscriptions of scientists, various notes.

The purpose of the article is to bring to the readers some autographs, inscripts, their content, handwriting of prominent Russian scientists on books from the library stock of the Central Scientific Library of the Irkutsk Scientific Center SB RAS (СSL ISC SB RAS) (previously – the library of the East-Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences), to tell about these books and their authors destinies. Responses to the article will help to determine the authorship of unidentified inscriptions.

In the course of the work, there were exposed and identified de visu books with autographs, donations (inscriptions) to the library from authors, to scientists from colleagues and owner’s inscriptions; the analysis of library materials was carried out, an attempt was made to systematize written sources with autographs and donations. At the second stage of the work, an electronic database was being compiled - the Catalog of Rare Books in EC IRBIS, which can be found on the library website.