Personal library as a reflection of the life and work history of A.V. Vysheslavtsev

We analyze A.V. Vysheslavtsev life history and creativity, and consider the importance of his personal library for professional pursuits and artistic hobbies. It is shown that reading played an important role in the upbringing of aesthetic taste and love of the beautiful in the Vysheslavtsev family. The estate library of the family estate Volkhonshchina accumulated a huge number of publications in Russian and foreign languages. Great importance in replenishing the rare foreign books collection played A.V. Vysheslavtsev’s uncle, who bought literature in the course of his foreign trips. On the basis of biographical research, the circumstances of the appearance of “Essays with quill and pencil out of circumnavigation of the world” we reveal their artistic and scientific value. We study the reasons of A.V. Vysheslavtsev’s foreign travels, and give the review of the books bought abroad. The analysis of the thematic composition of the library shows the diversity of readers’ interests of its owners. There were books on the history of European, Byzantine and Russian art. Collected for several decades, this collection can act as one of the elements of knowledge transfer to the Russian province. On the basis of studying foreign books A.V. Vysheslavtsev built scientific activity, prepared a number of serious studies on the Western art history. The heritage of A.V. Vysheslavtsev, without a doubt, has important historical, cultural and local history significance, reveals the creative laboratory of one of the most famous art critics of Russia of the 19th century.

A.V. Vysheslavtsev, personal library, Naryshkin library, Tambov Governorate, book collection, foreign language literature