Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-12-03
RUSSIAN LIBRARY
EXHIBIT TO OPEN
Books Dating From 18th Cen.
tury Included in Showing
to Begin Tomorrow.

United States, the display will reflect
nearly thousand years of social and
cultural development among the Rus
sian people
A total of 255 separate and distinct
items will be shown. They fill Sc COM
partments in long cases on the south
side of the second floor of the Library
foyer.
Handwritten documents, heavy leath-
er-bound tones, magnificent volumes
wrapped In plush velvet embroidered
with the imperial arms, unpretentious
pamphlets manufactured in the print
shops of the revolution, the formal
missions, old and new, and the official
reports Of Ministers. counselors and ad-
vocates are among the treasures select
ed for exhibit
Owned by Royalty.
Some of the books are worth more
than their weight in pure gold. They
came to the library from the palaces
of the Cars and contain the engraved
Pages once turned by the imperial
hands of Catherine II, Alexander 1,
Nicholas I, Alexander II. Alexander III
and Nicholas II are embraced in the
display.
One of the most interesting items
Is the late Czarina's copy of book
of laws relating to the royal family.
On two pages there are paragraphs
referring to the CZareWtch, and against
those paragraphs some unknown indi-
vidual, perhaps the Empress herself,
has drawn thin red pencil lines,
In the first is a reproduction in
facsimile of a thirteenth century manu-
script Of the "RusSkaia Pravda" or
Russian Rights" a code of laws or
dained by Prince Yaroslav the Wise
(978-1054). 1t Is regarded as one of
the first codes ever compiled in ma
tive language.
Nearby is a reproduction from four
tenth century manuscript Of the
judiciary chart Of Pskov, representa-
tive of the customary law applied in
ties Of Northern Russia in the period
before the extension Of crown control
to that portion Of the empire.
First Russian Law Book.
Ad adjacent case contains well
worn copy of the code of the Gear
Alexei Michailovich Q645-1676), father
in 1649, and was the first law book to
come from Russian press. The text
Is in Church-Slavonic characters Of the
variety which remained in use until
17O8. The code itself was effective. in
part at least, until 1885. A reprint
made in the Russian Government
Printing Office in 1918, with modern
lettering, also is shown.
The second law book published in
"Kormchaia" or pilot Book" COM
pilation of the ecclesiastical and civil
laws originating in Byzantium in the
ninth century and exported into Slavic
countries then only partially civilized.
A facsimile of report of an official
inquiry concerning the fate of the
true" Demetrius. son of Ivan the Ter
rible. is Of particular interest. The
young prince was murdered In 1881,
and during the subsequent IA years
three pretenders claimed his inheritance
and paid with their heads for their
presumption. In the opera Boris
Godunov," the story is retold by the
composer Mussorgsky.
Speransky, the creator OF the codif-
cation system. is remembered in case
assigned to his works, and the jurist
Novikov, banished by Catherine II, has
his "Theater of Jurisprudence" 1871,
in a neighboring frame.
227 Volumes in One Unit.
Several of set of 227 volumes of
laws lIOIl 1918 W 1910 dlC SllOWll- A1ACy
are huge books, richly bound, stamped
with gold. and handsomely illustrated
with hand-colored plates
One of the special prizes is judicial
anthology prepared by the Empress
Catherine Another is a book covered
with red velvet and bearing her in
sigma
A copy of the charter of the Rus
sian American Co. established in 1899
for the development of Alaska, is ex-
hibited in case which also includes
the Russian and the English texts of
the first treaty between Russia and
the United States. 1924; the report of
the Russian Commission designated to
consider the sale Of Alaska to the
United States, and the speech of
Charles Sumner advocating the tran
Saction, 1867.
Once the property of the Gar him.
self, Alexander IFS ukase emancipat-
ing the peasants is displayed His
bookplate bearing picture of the crown
and his initials is pasted in the
volume.
A history of the ruling senate or
supreme court of Russia covering two
centuries came from the library of the
report of the imperial judges and
procurators presented to Nicholas II,
containing his bookplate and the auto
graphs OF the sponsors. Also copy of
the report of a commission to design
a new civil code, 1905, with the sigma
lures of all the members. It was the
last named book which formed the
basis Of much Of the code adopted by
the Soviets in 1922.
War Data Is Included.
In a case set aside for the last
Cars reign Is the record Of the secret
meetings held in 1905 and 1906 to con-
slider the advisability of summoning a
durna or congress. With this volume
are codes of wartime legislation and Of
the laws enacted by the provisional
government of March to November,
1917.
The rise of the Bolshevik power is
traced in a comprehensive series of
legal enactments published in vest
pocket size, plainly printed and in
extensively bound.
In the final case age copies of the
communications exchanged by Presi-
dent Roosevelt and Foreign Commissar
Maxim Litvinoh last month. The sig
nature of the latter proves that the
Russian negotiator Of the new deal In
American-Rusdan relations spells his
name with two ops, not with ter
minal Gov
John T. Vance, chief of the law divi-
tlQn' assisted by Vladimir 0SOVSh, a
former lawyer and Judge, now a men,
Der of the division staff. 4
MI Vance said yesterday the show