Bibliophile, Bibliologist, Researcher of the Book Art (on the 60th Anniversary of Mikhail Vadimovich Seslavinsky)

The article is devoted to scientific, exhibition and collecting activities of Mikhail Vadimovich Seslavinsky, candidate of historical sciences, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, leader of the modern Russian bibliophile community, Chairman of the Council of the National Union of Bibliophiles. His scientific and popular science works in the field of book history, bibliography, art of the book, history and modern state of Russian bibliophilia are analyzed (in total — more than 40 book publications, including major monographic works, about 300 articles, reports, notes, publications of documents, as well as interviews with figures of the book and bibliophile world). The scholar has made a significant contribution to the study of the history of bookbinding, Russian children’s books, the work of Russian artists-emigrants in France, the book heritage of poets and artists of the Silver Age (O.E. Mandelstam, M.I. Tsvetaeva, A.A. Akhmatova, A.N. Benois) and many other topics. He also proposed original approaches to the definition of book rarities that came out from under the printing press in the twentieth century.

Large-scale exhibition projects prepared on the basis of his personal bibliophile collection were considered. The role of M.V. Seslavinsky as the creator and head of the National Union of Bibliophiles, chairman of the editorial board of the journal “About Books” was noted.

1. Fursenko L.I. (ed.) Mikhail Seslavinskii — bibliofil i knigoved: bibliograficheskii ukazatel’ [Mikhail Seslavinsky — A Bibliophile and Bibliologist: Bibliographic Index]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2014, 123 p.

2. Samarin A.Yu. Bibliophilic Contribution to the Science of the Book: (To the 50th Anniversary of M.V. Seslavinsky), Bibliografiya [Bibliography], 2014, no. 1, pp. 134—139 (in Russ.).

3. Fursenko L.I. (ed.) Mikhail Seslavinskii — bibliofil i knigoved [Mikhail Seslavinsky — A Bibliophile and Bibliologist]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2019, 307 p.

4. Samarin A.Yu. M.V. Seslavinsky’s Five Years of Bibliophilism, Bibliografiya [Bibliography], 2019, no. 1, pp. 79—89 (in Russ.).

5. Fursenko L.I. (ed.) Mikhail Seslavinskii — bibliofil i knigoved [Mikhail Seslavinsky — a Bibliophile and Bibliologist]. Moscow, 2024, 365 p.

6. Seslavinsky M.V. Independent Book Collections in My Library, Bibliofil’stvo i lichnye sobraniya: materialy Pervoi mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii (Moskva, 31 marta 2011) [Bibliophilia and Private Collections: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference (Moscow, March 31, 2011)]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2011, pp. 365—378 (in Russ.).

7. Seslavinsky M.V. Aromat knizhnogo perepleta: otechestvennyi individual’nyi pereplet XIX—XX vekov: al’bom-katalog [Aroma of Book Binding: Domestic Individual Binding of the 19th—20th Centuries: album-catalogue]. Moscow, Astrel’ Publ., 2008, 496 p.

8. Seslavinsky M.V. Aromat knizhnogo perepleta: otechestvennyi individual’nyi pereplet XIX—XX vekov: al’bom-katalog [Aroma of Book Binding: Domestic Individual Binding of the 19th—20th Centuries: album-catalogue]. Moscow, Astrel’ Publ., 2011, 543 p.

9. Seslavinsky M.V. Randevu: russkie khudozhniki vo frantsuzskom knigoizdanii pervoi poloviny XX veka: al’bom-katalog [Rendezvous: Russian Artists in French Book Publishing of the First Half of the 20th Century: album-catalogue]. Moscow, Astrel’ Publ., 2009, 503 p.

10. Seslavinsky M.V. Frantsuzskaya kniga v oformlenii russkikh khudozhnikov-ehmigrantov (1920— 1940-e gody) [French Book in the Design of Russian Artists-Emigrants (1920s—1940s)], Cand. hist. sci. diss. abstr. Moscow, 2010, 27 p.

11. Seslavinsky M.V. Frantsuzskie bibliofil’skie izdaniya v oformlenii russkikh khudozhnikov-ehmigrantov (1920—1940-e gody): monografiya [French Bibliophile Editions in the Design of Russian Artists-Emigrants (1920s—1940s): monograph]. Moscow, Universitetskaya Kniga Publ., 2012, 250 p.

12. Seslavinsky M.V., Tarakanova O.L. Knigi dlya gurmanov: bibliofil’skie izdaniya kontsa XIX — nachala XX veka: al’bom [Books for Gourmets: Bibliophile Editions of the End of the 19th — Beginning of the 20th Century: album]. Moscow, Belyi Gorod Publ., 2010, 310 p.

13. Seslavinsky M.V. Girlyanda iz knig i kartinok: detskoe chtenie v dorevolyutsionnoi Rossii: al’bom: v 2 t. [A Garland of Books and Pictures: Children’s Reading in Pre-Revolutionary Russia: album: in 2 volumes]. Moscow, Detskaya Literatura, Samolet Publ., 2011, vol. 1, 254 p.

14. Seslavinsky M.V. Girlyanda iz knig i kartinok: detskoe chtenie v dorevolyutsionnoi Rossii: al’bom: v 2 t. [A Garland of Books and Pictures: Children’s Reading in Pre-Revolutionary Russia: album: in 2 volumes]. Moscow, Detskaya Literatura, Samolet Publ., 2011, vol. 2, 511 p.

15. Gankina E.Z. Dlya serdtsa i razuma: detskaya illyustrirovannaya kniga v Rossii, konets 17 — pervaya polovina 19 vv. [For Heart and Mind: Children’s Illustrated Book in Russia, the Late 17th — First Half 19th Century]. Ierusalim, Ierusalimskii Izdatel’skii Tsentr, 1998, 222 p.

16. Karaichentseva S.A. Russkaya detskaya kniga XVIII—XX vv.: (Ocherki ehvolyutsii repertuara. 1717—1990 gg.): monografiya [Russian Children’s Book of the 18th—20th Centuries. (Essays on the Evolution of the Repertoire. 1717—1990): monograph]. Moscow, Moskovskii Gosudarstvennyi Universitet Pechati Publ., 2006, 290 p.

17. Seslavinsky M.V. (ed.) TamIzdat: 100 izbrannykh knig [Tamizdat: 100 Selected Books]. Moscow, Russkii Put’ Publ., 2012, 519 p.

18. Seslavinsky M.V. (ed.) Tamizdat: 100 izbrannykh knig [Tamizdat: 100 Selected Books]. Moscow, Olma Media Grupp Publ., 2014, 638 p.

19. Seslavinsky M.V. (ed.) Iskusstvo avtografa: inskripty pisatelei i khudozhnikov v chastnykh sobraniyakh rossiiskikh bibliofilov: al’bom [The Art of Autograph. Inscriptions of Writers and Artists in the Private Collections of Russian Bibliophiles: album]. Moscow, Boslen Publ., 2015, vol. 1: A—I. 375 p., vol. 2: K—Ya, 549 p.

20. Seslavinsky M.V. Bibliofil’skii venok Anne Akhmatovoi: k 125-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya: avtografy v sobranii M. Seslavinskogo: katalog [The Bibliophile Garland to Anna Akhmatova: To the 125th Birth Anniversary: The Autographs in the Collection of M. Seslavinsky: catalogue]. Moscow, Pro Knigi: Zhurnal Bibliofila Publ., 2014, 175 p.

21. Seslavinsky M.V. Moi drug Osip Mandel’shtam: izbrannaya illyustrirovannaya bibliografiya i avtografy [My Friend Osip Mandelstam: Selected Illustrated Bibliography and Autographs]. Moscow, Boslen Publ., 2016, 303 p.

22. Mnukhin L.A., Seslavinsky M.V. Bibliofil’skii venok M.I. Tsvetaevoi: avtografy i memorial’nye predmety iz sobranii L.A. Mnukhina i M.V. Seslavinskogo: k 125-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya poehta: al’bom-katalog [The Bibliophile Garland to M.I. Tsvetaeva: Autographs and Memorial Items from the Collections of L.A. Mnukhin and M.V. Seslavinsky: To the 125th Anniversary of the Poet’s Birth: album-catalogue]. Moscow, Boslen Publ., 2017, 207 p.

23. Samarin A.Yu. The History of the Department of Rare Books of the Lenin State Library in the Light of Regulatory Documents (The 1920s — Mid 1950s), Vivliofika: istoriya knigi i izuchenie knizhnykh pamyatnikov [Vivliofika: The History of Book and the Study of Book Monuments]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2011, issue 2, pp. 10—36 (in Russ.).

24. Shcherbacheva N.A., Dobrusina S.A., Samarin A. Yu. et al. Results of the First Stage of the National Program for Preservation of Library Collections in Russian Federation. 2001—2010, Informatsionnyi byulleten’ RBA [Information Bulletin of the RLA], 2011, no. 59, pp. 24—48 (in Russ.).

25. Manilova T.L., Dobrusina S.A., Samarin A.Yu. et al. Osnovnye napravleniya razvitiya deyatel’nosti po sokhraneniyu bibliotechnykh fondov v Rossiiskoi Federatsii na 2011—2020 gody [The Main Directions of Development of Activities on the Preservation of Library Collections in Russian Federation for 2011—2020]. Moscow, Mezhregional’nyi Tsentr Bibliotechnogo Sotrudnichestva Publ., 2013, 36 p.

26. Seslavinsky M.V. Russkie knizhnye redkosti XX veka: 333 izbrannye knigi [Russian Book Rarities of the 20th Century: 333 Selected Books]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2016, 381 p.

27. Seslavinsky M.V. Russkie knizhnye redkosti XX veka: 333 izbrannye knigi [Russian Book Rarities of the 20th Century: 333 Selected Books]. Moscow, Pashkov Dom Publ., 2017, 381 p.

28. Seslavinsky M.V. Kantata “Kantate” [Cantata “Cantate”]. Moscow, Boslen Publ., 2018, 109 p.

29. Seslavinsky M.V. Nizhegorodskaya syuita: motivy rodnoi zemli v sobranii Mikhaila Seslavinskogo: al’bom-katalog [Nizhny Novgorod Suite: Motifs of the Native Land in the Collection of Mikhail Seslavinsky: album-catalogue]. Nizhny Novgorod, BegemotNN Publ., 2022, 431 p.

30. Seslavinsky M.V. Knizhnyi mir Aleksandra Benua: ehtyudy issledovatelya i kollektsionera [The Book World of Alexander Benois: Etudes of a Researcher and Collector]. Moscow, Boslen Publ., 2023, 319 p.

31. Lavrenova A. The Journal “About Books”. To the Anniversary of the Edition, Universitetskaya Kniga [University Book], 2012, no. 5 (June), pp. 82—83 (in Russ.).

32. Fursenko L.I. (ed.) Pro knigi: zhurnal bibliofilov: ukazatel’ soderzhaniya zhurnala no. 1—50 (2007—2019) [About Books: Bibliophile Journal: Index of the Contents of Issues no. 1—50 (2007—2019)]. Moscow, Pro Knigi Publ., 2019, 172 p.

33. Seslavinsky M.V. (ed.) Slavnoe desyatiletie: Natsional’nyi soyuz bibliofilov v portretakh i sobytiyakh: 2010—2020 [A Glorious Decade: The National Union of Bibliophiles in Portraits and Events: 2010—2020]. Moscow, Izdatel’stvo Stolyarovykh, 2021, 541 p.