TO CHILDREN ABOUT ART: DOMESTIC ILLUSTRATED EDITIONS OF THE 1800–1820S

UDC 7
DOI: 10.36871/hon.202401140

Authors

Anna E. Shcherbakova,
National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, 191069, Russian Federation

Abstract

This article is devoted to the visual language of children’s books and magazines of the first third of the XIXth century on the theme of art. The cultural and historical context of the development of illustrated literature on this topic is considered. The most popular plots and the artistic features of the published images are identified. A comparison is made of illustrations in Russian-language versions of books and foreign originals. The relationship between the publication format and graphic content is determined, as well as the options for interaction between text and picture. The most striking examples of domestic early printed books reflecting the trends of the era under consideration were selected for this work. These are children’s encyclopedias, alphabet books, biographical and game editions. The result of the research is the reconstruction of the situation of illustrating children’s art literature in Russia in the 1800– 1820s. It has been established that children’s book publishing of this period hardly sought to talk about art as such. It often appeared in the content of publications with other goals. Nevertheless, the authors of the books managed to cover certain aspects of art. These include types of art, artistic images, famous artists, as well as technical features of creating works of art.

Keywords

book illustration, magazine illustration, Russian engraving, children’s book of the first third of the XIXth century, children’s periodicals of the first third of the XIXth century