Shuvalov Book

Rare book from the library of Ivan Shuvalov, favorite of Empress Elizabeth. The book was published in Paris in 1687 and bound in Russia circa 1755 for the Shuvalov's library. Full calf, gilt tooled spine with red and green morocco onlays. 4 x 6 1/4 in. (10 x 16 cm).

Both covers are embossed with the heraldic super exlibrises of Ivan Shuvalov.

$5,700.00

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The front cover is embossed with crowned monogram 'I I S' for Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov.

Both, the monogram and the following armorial, are published in "Russian Heraldic Super Exlibris" by P. A. Druzhinin, Moscow, 2000, page 286.

The back cover with Shuvalov's armorial.

The central shield with a unicorn is surrounded with the motto of the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky in Russian and is laid on the Order's star with the cross of the Order below. Ivan Shuvalov received the Order in 1751. The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky was founded by Catherine I in 1725 and was awarded to high-ranking officials. The motto reads: "For Hard-Working and Fatherland".

Ivan Ivanovich Shuvalov (1727-1797) started his service at the Court as a page being a protege of his cousin Peter, who participated in the coupe which brought Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, to the throne. Empress Elizabeth was always favorably disposed towards I.Shuvalov, he is considered to be her favorite. He was known as one of the most educated men of the Russian court. Catherine II in her memoirs mentioned that she always saw Shuvalov at the palace with a book in his hands. Shuvalov, like Catherine II, was in extensive correspondence with the most prominent thinkers of the 18th century: Voltaire, Didro, and d'Alamber. He was the founder and the first curator of the Moscow University (1755), the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg was founded by his advise in 1757. Thanks to his position at the Court, the Shuvalov family was the most influential family in Russia in the 1750s. Ivan together with his cousin Peter virtually ruled the country.

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