London editions in English in the Stroganovs' patrimonial library

Studying of the Stroganov book collection of Tomsk University Research Library allows getting into the spiritual atmosphere of the Russian noble society of the 18 th-19 th centuries. At that time the Russian reader with huge interest opened for himself foreign literature in bigger volume than before. The dominating French influence was reflected in formation of libraries. Stroganovs' patrimonial library generally consisting of the French editions is a clear example of it. Thus, broad interests of its owners brightly reflected in the book collection which is universal according to the contents and language diversity. The Stroganovs collected books in many foreign languages. In their library there is English literature of various types - philosophical, historical, economic, political, fiction. The overwhelming part of English authors' works is published in French in Paris and London. This approach to selection of literature is explained by the Russian-French bilingualism inherent to the Russian nobility of the end of this era. At the same time, the Anglomania growth as evidenced by the contemporaries becomes a noticeable factor of this period. In the article the few English editions which are a component of the Stroganov library are considered. The Stroganovs' library has works of Bishop Benjamin (1717); a multi-volume edition of Shakespeare's plays; a three-volume London edition of Milton's works (1795); a French-English dictionary (1797); some books on architecture published in the 17th century. The 15-volume edition of Shakespeare's plays is one of the most valuable in the Stroganovs' English collection. For this edition philologist D. Stephens prepared impressive bibliographic comments. The 19th century is represented in Stroganovs' English collection by several reports of the committees created for studying the issues of the criminal law, for example, Report from the select committee of the house of lords on the present state of discipline in gaols and houses of correction etc. 1863. The English collection is decorated by 9 volumes (1848-1854) of an illustrated weekly The Illustrated London News, a popular periodical of the Victorian England. Studying of the revealed English editions in the Stro-ganovs' book collection allows to speak about its wide specific and genre variety and also about the strong place of the English subject in the sphere of intellectual interests of the well-known Russian bibliophiles.

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