High technologies in modern museums. Telegraph apparatus of Pavel Schilling
"is an international project about the first Russian space travel. The exhibition was the result of extensive research that lasted five years. Scientists and museum workers from Russia and England have been piecing together archival documents and memorabilia belonging to space pioneers to uncover the personal stories of the people who helped create the space age.
The initiators of the exhibition are the London Science Museum and Natalya Sidlina, who later became the organizer of the exhibition from the English side, and now the curator of the Russian collection at the Tate Gallery.
After the exhibition was held in London and Moscow, a virtual exhibition catalog was created. The platform for it was the “Wikipedia of Things” Thngs, an international startup originally from Russia.
The Village talked to the creators of the exhibition and asked them to select seven iconic things that are best to start getting acquainted with the project.
Natalia Sergievskaya
deputy general director for the development of the Polytechnic Museum, exhibition curator
"Space: the birth of a new era"
The idea was not only to tell facts about Russian cosmonautics. Our goal is to tell about the legend, about the fates of amazing people involved in the first flights into space. About how the impossible becomes reality.
It was possible to take a simple route to make an exhibition: put together an exhibition from models and exhibits from Russian museums. But it became clear that if we were to launch such a large unique project, then we need to show those objects that no one has ever seen before. The team collected authentic “documents” of those first space flights: actually flying vehicles, technological models of ships, stations, lunar rovers, which were the most breakthrough inventions of that time.
A large number of Russian space industry enterprises were involved in the negotiations. After all, the exhibition consists of pieces from more than 25 collections. On the one hand, there were large, fantastically beautiful objects that were incredibly difficult to transport across the border. On the other hand, a huge array of archival materials was shoveled. The organizers met with living cosmonauts of the first galaxy, such as Tereshkova, Leonov, and with relatives of Korolev, Gagarin, and with a large number of other people involved in the first flights, about whom no one in Russia had ever heard.
The idea of the exhibition was to talk about those dreamers who did not think that space flight was impossible. They just flew away.
At some point, we managed to convince the organizers that the exhibition should be shown in Moscow, otherwise most of the objects that we read about in textbooks as schoolchildren would return to closed enterprises and no one would ever see them again. It was decided that the exhibition should take place at VDNH. All participants in a rather complex organizational process (VDNH, Museum of Science and Industry, Science Museum and ROSIZO) tried to agree on how much the exhibition concept would change. It seemed that it would be strange to make an exhibition exactly like in London, given the level of awareness of the Russian audience about the history and heroes of Russian cosmonautics. We decided to shift the emphasis, emphasizing the fantastic nature of what was accomplished by our compatriots; we talked about space as a dream.
In addition to spacecraft, the exhibition also included works of art - they created an aura of dreams, hopes and fantasies come true. Among them were, for example, works by avant-garde artists of the early 20th century, which were created at the same time when the first designers and first ideologists of space flights (Korolev, Glushkov, Tsiolkovsky) dreamed of what now seems like the norm, but then seemed absolutely impossible. Artworks were presented from the collection Tretyakov Gallery, Shchusev Museum of Architecture, private collections.
In the section dedicated to man’s presence in space, we placed architectural watercolors by Galina Balashova, who in reality was designing the very interiors that people dreamed of at the beginning of the “space” age. Art permeates the entire exhibition with a parallel thread - the thread of dreams.
Dima Devinn
co-founder and CEO of Thngs
We are creating a "Wikipedia of things." You can find interesting things on Thngs, and soon you can discuss them, collect them in collections, and some even buy them. Now we are focused specifically on working with museum collections, their digitization and publishing online exhibitions. This is a very interesting format, at Thngs exhibitions take place outside the usual museum space and are not limited in time - anyone can access the exhibits and their stories, wherever he or she is. This is a kind of bridge-building between cultures: for example, a schoolchild from Tokyo or an astronaut from California has access to knowledge about the Soviet space program, as well as the dreams and values of that time, through the screen of their device. And it's just beautiful.
The ORM-52 liquid rocket engine was developed at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory under the leadership of Valentin Glushko. It became one of the most powerful engines from the early ORM series. It ran on a mixture of kerosene and nitric acid and produced very significant power for its time - 300 kgf. Thanks to this, ORM-52 was used in one of the first experimental liquid-fuel rockets - RLA-2. According to the design, the rocket was supposed to rise vertically, reach an altitude of four kilometers, and then release a parachute with meteorological instruments installed at the top. In the wake of the success of the ORM-52 engine, several more powerful liquid engines were developed after a number of attempts: from ORT-53 to ORM-70, which could produce up to 600 kgf of power.
Scale: 1:10
Sputnik-3 was created at OKB-1 (now RSC Energia). It became in fact the first satellite truly prepared for scientific work. “Sputnik-1” was made for the sake of the very fact of launching an object into space, and “Sputnik-2” was designed in a hurry - for the anniversary October revolution. Sputnik 3 was much larger and contained a large number of various measuring instruments. It was equipped with a tape recorder for recording telemetry, experimental solar panels and a radio beacon powered by them, as well as sensors for recording cosmic rays, radiation levels, analyzing solar radiation, and others.
The launch of Sputnik 3 took place on May 15, 1958 using a modified R-7 launch vehicle: to launch a payload weighing 1327 kg, it was necessary to create an additional rocket unit. The device successfully entered an elliptical orbit and remained there until April 6, 1960. Based on the results of the launch of Sputnik 3, a whole family of similar devices was created.
It was difficult for the seats for three crew members to fit into the Voskhod. They had to sacrifice comfort - the astronauts had to twist around to see the control panel. In addition, the means of evacuation also did not fit, and the astronauts did not leave the board throughout the entire mission. The return rocket slowed down the speed of the ship as it descended to Earth.
Dimensions: 0.6 × 0.85 × 2 m
Weight: 85 kg
"Krechet" was developed at the research and production enterprise "Zvezda" named after. G.I. Severin within the framework of the Soviet “lunar program”. Since it was very different from its American counterpart, completely different requirements were placed on the spacesuit, which ultimately allowed the developers to set several technological records. Thus, Krechet could provide autonomous operation of an astronaut on the Moon for 10 hours, which is enough for a five-kilometer walk.
The suit was equipped with two independent air conditioning systems: one ensured uniform circulation and regeneration of the atmosphere, and the other (KVO, presented here) provided heat removal. To do this, a special overall was worn under the Krechet, into which a total of about 100 meters of tubes were sewn through which water flowed. In this way, about 400 W of heat could be removed. But you have to pay for everything: the weight of the suit filled with water was more than three kilograms, and the Krechet spacesuit was not intended to be worn at all - it was so large and heavy that you had to “enter” it through a hatch in the back. “Krechet” was never used for its intended purpose due to the cancellation of the “lunar program”. However, most of its systems, including the KVO, found application in the development of spacesuits of the Orlan series, which are still used for work in outer space.
Scale: 1:3
Dimensions: 1.3 × 1.25 × 1.85 m
Weight: 40 kg
The station was developed at the design bureau of the Khimki Machine-Building Plant named after S.A. Lavochkin with the goal of delivering a sample of lunar soil to Earth. For this purpose, Luna-16, in addition to the landing platform, was equipped with a return rocket and a return vehicle. The launch took place on September 12, 1970, and on September 20 the station softly landed on the moon. Due to restrictions on the mass of the return vehicle, the landing point was chosen so that the initial trajectory of the rocket on the way to the Earth was as close as possible to the vertical with respect to the surface of the Moon, which greatly simplified maneuvering and trajectory correction. As a result, the station landed almost on the equator, in the Sea of Plenty, setting a record for the maximum mass delivered to the Moon. After the soil was collected, the return rocket was successfully launched.
, steel, fiberglassA key mechanism that is still used today for docking spacecraft in space - for example, for docking additional modules to the space station. Developed at the Energia design bureau in the early 1970s. Docking units are divided into two main classes: active-passive and universal. In the first case, the units on two docking ships are asymmetrical; most often, one has the shape of a pin, the other a cone. Such a system is more accurate in guidance, but is not universal: two spacecraft with identical (pin-pin or cone-cone) units cannot dock. To eliminate this drawback, an androgynous unit was developed: one APAS could always dock with another, regardless of whether it was passive or active. APAS-75 was first used in July 1975 during the Soyuz-Apollo experimental flight. Using the APAS system, the ships successfully docked twice and remained docked for a total of almost 47 hours. Later, more advanced modifications appeared - APAS-89 and APAS-95, the latter is still in use today. The International Space Station also uses a similar Unified Docking Mechanism system, through which SpaceX's H-II Transfer Vehicle, Cygnus, and Dragon spacecraft dock with the station.
Photos: Polytechnic Museum/Thngs
The first exhibits in the Polytechnic Museum appeared in 1872. Over the course of a century and a half, the collection has grown so much that the halls cannot accommodate it: part of the collection is stored in a storage facility. However, every visitor can go on an excursion to this unique behind-the-scenes museum tour. We present the 5 most valuable exhibits from the open funds of the Polytechnic Museum.
Camera Photographe Chevalier
The Photographe camera is one of the first acquisitions to the museum from the Moscow Polytechnic Exhibition of 1872. This is a box magazine daguerreotype camera with a combined P.V.C. photographic lens. (Photographe à Verres Combinés), in which cassettes inside a cassette magazine are moved manually. Both the camera and the photographic lens were designed by optician and physicist Charles Louis Chevalier in 1840.
In 1843, Sergei Levitsky, the first Russian photo artist and court photographer, traveled to the Caucasus and took photographs there. His camera was equipped with a P.V.C. lens. Levitsky sent several of his best daguerreotypes to Charles Chevalier. In 1849, at the World Industrial Exhibition in Paris, Chevalier was awarded a gold medal for daguerreotypes with views of Pyatigorsk and its environs. This was the first highest award in the history of photography. So the P.V.S. lens became famous among his contemporaries - he was popular with photographers until the 1860s.
Telegraph apparatus of Pavel Schilling
The Schilling telegraph is the first electromagnetic telegraph in world history. Today, only two genuine Pavel Schilling devices exist. One of them is kept in the Central Museum of Communications in St. Petersburg, the other is on display at the Polytechnic Museum. Both devices were restored in 1886 - on the occasion of the centenary of the inventor's birth - by the chief mechanic of the St. Petersburg telegraph Ivan Derevyankin.
A member of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, Schilling first demonstrated a “long-distance machine” in his apartment in October 1832. Two devices of the world's first electromagnetic telegraph line stood in different rooms. Using a special code, they transmitted numbers and letters at a speed of 10 characters per minute. “Contact” sessions were held regularly and could be attended before the Christmas holidays. Emperor Nicholas I was present at one of the demonstrations.
The invention of the electromagnetic device was an important scientific event: the telegraph code for the device laid the foundations for encoding information that are still used today.
Franz Epinus achromatic telescopic microscope
The Polytechnic Museum houses the only copy of the world's first achromatic telescopic microscope, made by master Johann Gottlieb Tiedemann according to the design of Franz Epinus.
Academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences Epinus designed the first achromatic microscope in 1784. He used the work of the mechanic Leonhard Euler, who came up with the idea of achromatizing the lens, and the mathematician Nikolai Fuss - he produced necessary calculations. The image quality in the Epinus microscope was an order of magnitude higher: the achromatic lens smoothed out some of the noise.
In the history of science, the Epinus microscope ranks special place. This was the first microscope created on the basis of mathematical calculations, rather than experimental selection of lenses. Franz Epinus wrote about him: “Even if my new microscope does not immediately force one to abandon and forget all those that currently exist, then in a few years it will be impossible to find anyone who would use microscopes other than the one I invented.”.
In 1805, the rector of Dorpat (now Tartu) University, Georg Parrott, ordered a microscope from the German optician Johann Tiedemann. In 1827 St. Petersburg Academy Sciences purchased one of these microscopes from the University of Dorpat. This helped preserve it for posterity: the second copy was lost during the occupation of Tartu in 1942.
“Indicator of hours of the entire globe” To determine local, church time and geographical longitude of Peter Chavsky
"Hour indicator total globe"appeared in those years when the idea of a unified timekeeping system was just emerging. Calculations for the clock were prepared by Russian chronology specialist Pyotr Khavsky in the 1850s. The Polytechnic Museum houses the first original copy, which was made by watchmaker and engraver Dmitry Gavrilov. On the dial there is an inscription: “Composition by P. Khavsky, and edition and design by D. Gavrilov.” An advertisement has survived, from which it is clear that the sentry produced devices of various designs.
The dials of the “Hour Index” contain the names of 135 cities, the time and meridians of which can be determined relative to zero points - the Isle of Ferro, Moscow, Paris.
The device has a special scale that allows you to convert church time to civil time and vice versa. Pavel Khavsky explained in detail how to use it in a brochure describing the watch. The scale helped historians who worked with ancient chronicles: with its help, scientists accurately calculated the civil time of the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.
Car "Russo-Balt K12/20"
The Polytechnic Museum houses a collection of unique cars manufactured before 1918. Among them there is a Russian car “Russo-Balt K12/20” from 1911. This is the only passenger car of this brand that has survived to this day.
In the Russian Empire, Russo-Balt cars were produced using advanced technologies. In particular, for the first time in our country, the K12/20 model was equipped with an engine with all cylinders cast in one block. The car reached speeds of up to 60 km/h. We drove "K12/20" with Landaulet bodies famous poet, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, retired Prime Minister Count Sergei Witte, Prince Boris Golitsyn, industrialist Emmanuel Nobel.
The exhibit, which is kept in the Polytechnic Museum, was discovered in 1963 in the city of Kimry, Kalinin region (today - Tver region). The car belonged to steam boiler mechanic Alexander Orlov. He bought the car in 1929 and drove it for almost 13 years until the car broke down: the owner forgot to drain the water from the engine cooling system for the winter. In 1966, Russo-Balt was acquired by the Gorky Film Studio, and in the same year it was bought from the studio by the Polytechnic Museum. For the 50th anniversary of the Great October Revolution, the car was restored at the Scientific Research Automobile and Motor Vehicle Institute, and soon it took its place in the exhibition.
Thank you for your help in preparing the publication and the illustrations provided.
IN Central Museum communications named after A. S. Popov, the State Collection of Postal Payment Marks (GK ZPO), founded in 1884 and currently numbering 8 million storage units, is stored. From year to year, its funds are replenished with modern domestic postal issues from the Publishing and Trade Center "Marka" and postage stamps from countries around the world coming from the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
Museum visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with the most valuable part of the funds of the ZPO Civil Code in the “Treasury of Russian Postal Insignia”, organized by analogy with the “golden vaults” of the Hermitage. The method of open storage of funds in a specially equipped room implemented in the museum allows visitors to demonstrate previously inaccessible rare and unique originals of museum objects of historical and cultural significance. About 1,200 museum objects presented in open storage illustrate the history of postage marks and written postal correspondence of our state for more than two centuries: the Russian Empire, including local post stamps of Russian zemstvo councils, the Provisional Government and the initial period of Soviet Russia called the RSFSR (1917 - 1923).
The history of postage marks is represented by postage stamps, marked products in the form of envelopes, cards, secret cards and other so-called. whole things, as well as letters that have passed through the mail, as evidence of their purpose. All these items are presented in the evolution of the development of our domestic mail from the pre-stamp period of its history to the appearance of the first signs of advance postal payment for written correspondence and widespread use by the population with the development of postal services and types of correspondence. The main attraction of the “Treasury” is the preparatory materials for the publication of postage stamps. These are originals and sketches of stamps made by small graphic artists, printed projects, both approved for publication and unrealized, preliminary samples of stamps and samples. On the projects approved for publication, you can see the autographs of famous government officials who headed the postal department and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, to which the post office was subordinate. Unique documentary sources contribute to the study of the history of Russian mail, allowing us to trace the production path postage stamps from the author's intention to its implementation in replicated products.
Developed thematic principle for storing and displaying museum objects by sections State collection in accordance with the chronology of the release of postal issues into circulation, it makes it possible to conduct excursions in the “Treasury” for visitors on the history of Russian postal payment marks within the presented periodization of our state. Visitor access to this unique depository is carried out only in the presence of a museum employee and is accompanied by a guided tour by a specialist.
I offer a short excursion into the history of Russian mail with a stop at some of the exhibits of the “Treasury”.
The earliest exhibit of the “Treasury” dates back to 1743: this is a postmark letter sent from St. Petersburg to Nizhny Novgorod. Sealed with the sender's wax seal and without any postal marks, as was customary in those distant times, the letter, when delivered to the post office, was paid for in cash and registered in special books.
Pre-marshal letter. 1743
Postal stamps appeared only in the second half of the 18th century and indicated the name of the place from which the letter was sent. The postal employee's task was to correctly calculate the miles to the destination, since the amount of payment for sending a letter depended on its weight and the distance to which it was sent. In addition to simple letters, letters containing money and securities were sent by mail. Such valuable correspondence was sealed at the post office in the presence of the sender, who was given a receipt for the letter with a description of the attachment.
Receipt for investment and transfer of money. 1845
Calendar branding stamps containing inscriptions indicating the date of departure, and later the date of receipt, began to be used in Russia in early XIX century. Payment for correspondence in cash with the issuance of receipts was burdensome both for the population and for the postal department: it was necessary to improve the tariff system and the method of paying for correspondence.
Russia was among the leading countries in the world that followed the path of postal reforms following Great Britain, which became the legislator of postal payment marks in the world, issuing the first postage stamp called “Penny Black” in 1840.
On January 1, 1844, a single tariff of 10 kopecks was introduced in Russia for sending internal correspondence without taking into account distance. for a letter weighing 1 lot (12.8 g). This allowed the Postal Department to adopt one of the European innovations and introduce into postal circulation in December 1845 the first Russian postal payment marks - “stamp envelopes”. On front side a round stamp is stamped in blue paint on a manual press, intended for payment for sending letters via St. Petersburg city mail. The state imperial coat of arms, combined with postal horns as a symbol of mail, immediately took its place on the first postage signs: this is what the coat of arms of the postal department looked like.
PC. St. Petersburg post office jacket. 1845
The envelopes, which came into circulation in several formats: from the largest “stationery” to the smallest “ladies’”, were sold out in a matter of days. Today, the surviving specimens are rare, and some are even unique. In single copies, stamped postal sheets, introduced in 1846 for the convenience of correspondents of the St. Petersburg city mail, have survived to this day, which were used for writing, then folded to the size of an envelope and sent by mail. One of these rarities is kept in the “Treasury” and is a postal sheet, combined with the opening of a stamped envelope, passed through the 2nd department of the St. Petersburg city post office.
Postal sheet of St. Petersburg post office with cutting pieces. Kuverta. 1846
Analogues of postage signs of this type were no longer published in Russia.
The use of stamped envelopes in St. Petersburg turned out to be very successful and the Postal Department already in February 1846 introduced similar envelopes with a red payment stamp for the Moscow city mail.
Stamped envelopes made the work of the city post much easier, and the population appreciated the new form of sending correspondence. The popularity of “stamped envelopes” was so great that from December 1, 1848, the Postal Department introduced stamped envelopes for nonresident correspondence throughout the Russian Empire. The stamps were printed on the verso in the center of the top flap and varied in color and denomination according to postal rates. In the stamp design, the coat of arms of the Postal Department was printed in relief.
PC. general public cover mail. 1848
The paper for making envelopes for national mail, in contrast to city “envelopes,” had a watermark in the form of a postal coat of arms: a double-headed eagle and postal horns.
The introduction of national postage signs is associated with the emergence of such an important and familiar mail attribute as street mailboxes. Having first appeared in St. Petersburg and Moscow, they immediately gained recognition in Russia. Having sealed the letter in a stamped envelope, it could simply be dropped into the mailbox.
The introduction of stamped envelopes improved the organizational forms of postal services, increasing postal exchange within the country. However, they failed to completely solve postal problems in Russia during this period. The internal changes that took place associated with the rapid development of technology, the expansion of the railway network, the development and implementation most important achievements European technology and culture required well-established and convenient postal communications. Russian post needed a universal postage stamp, especially since by the middle of the 19th century postage stamps had already been introduced in the main Western European countries.
The “Treasury” funds will introduce you to materials on preparation for the publication of the first Russian stamp, which began several years before its release. This was a search for the best form and design, ways to protect the brand from counterfeiting. At the first stage, it was planned to design a round “stamp” stamp by analogy with payment stamps on “couplets”. In 1856, the Postal Department and the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers (EZGB), which worked together to create the first postage stamps, printed trial versions of “stamp” stamps based on the sketches of J. Reichel, manager of the printing department of the EZGB. Engraver Kirchner engraved two stamp designs and tested them in different colors. On one stamp there is an image of the head of Mercury: the ancient Roman messenger of the gods, on the other there is an image of the Russian postal coat of arms. However, the “stamp” stamps that have survived to this day remain in the history of Russian postal payment marks as unrealized projects that have survived to this day and have become great rarities.
Piece, stamp with the head of Mercury. 1856
PC. stamp with the postal coat of arms. 1856
The round shape of the stamps clearly did not meet the requirements of the Postal Department, since the possible difficulties in their mass production in sheets were not taken into account: the development of new punching machines was required to apply perforations around the design.
The author of the first Russian postage stamp was the senior engraver of the Expedition for the Procurement of State Papers, Franz Kepler, who on October 21, 1856 presented his project to the Postal Department, and was adopted as the basis for the production of the first Russian stamp.
Project of the first stamp by F. Kepler. 1856
The project of the first brand, adopted as a basis
F. Kepler managed to create a rectangular stamp design, which became a real masterpiece of stamp graphics. On the stamp, in an oval medallion surrounded by an imperial robe with a crown, the coat of arms of the Postal Department is embossed in white relief.
After minor modifications to the project, the EZGB printed proofs of 10-kopeck stamps in various combinations flowers that are stored in the “Treasury”. The Postal Department selected three samples from them for stamps of different denominations: for 10 kopecks. per lot (12.8 g) - brown with a blue center, for 20 kopecks. – blue with orange and for 30 k. – carmine with green. On October 20, 1857, Emperor Alexander II, following a report from the head of the Postal Department, F.I. Pryanishnikov, approved the submitted samples of stamps and “he deigned to order them, instead of stamped ones, to be called postage stamps.” This is how the term “postage stamp” was officially introduced in Russia.
By Circular No. 3 of December 10, 1857, the Postal Department announced the introduction of postage stamps in the Russian Empire from January 1, 1858 to pay for simple internal correspondence. The creation of the first stamp was one of the significant events in the history of Russian mail. The first issue shaped the style of Russian postage stamps. Distinguished by a high level of printing performance, they were printed with two-color combined printing on paper with watermarks and, in their artistic merits, differed from stamps from countries around the world with their regal elegance.
In “Treasury” the first Russian stamp is represented by a unique corner pair with wide brims, original glue and an impeccable state of preservation. She is kind of business card Museum and State Collection of ZPO.
A pair of the first Russian postage stamps. 1858, January
The use of the first stamps in postal circulation is demonstrated by letters with various types cancellations. Among them are the very first cancellations of stamps on letters by simply crossing them out with ink so that they would not be reused.
Letter with stamps No. 1, canceled with pen. 1858
In March 1858, specially made numbered dot stamp cancellation dies with the post office number encoded in the center began to be used.
Letter with trial cancellation stamp SPb-Pochtamt.1858, February
The use of the first stamp issues in postal circulation is demonstrated by letters with various types of cancellations. One of the most interesting among them is the pen cancellation on the letter with the first three stamps, which went through the post office in January 1858. The rarest is a letter with Russian stamp No. 2 - a perforated version of the first stamp, which is canceled with a stamp of 4 dotted circles with the number “1” in the center. This test stamp of the St. Petersburg Post Office was used as an experimental stamp only in February 1858.
Postage stamps published in the Russian Empire were standard with a mandatory heraldic design, differing from each other in denominations, sizes and design details. After the merger of post and telegraph in 1884 into a single department - the Main Directorate of Posts and Telegraphs, the image of telegraph arrows - a symbol of speed - was introduced into the design of stamps under the imperial coat of arms next to the postal horns.
The only commemorative series of imperial postage stamps was published in 1913 for the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty, which was solemnly celebrated in all corners of vast Russia. Based on the materials presented in the “Treasury”, one can trace the stages of creation of the first subject postage stamps. The first stage illustrates printed stamp essays with portraits of the reigning Emperor Nicholas II, commissioned from the French engraver Louis Eugene Mouchon, specially invited to Russia. Created to the highest standards graphic level Mouchon's postal miniatures remained unrealized in our postal history, preserving portraits of the emperor from different angles in printed color samples.
The second stage of the creation of the Romanov issue illustrates the preparation of portrait miniatures of the royal persons of the House of Romanov and views of the royal residences. Outstanding domestic artists from the World of Art association took part in the work on the issue: I. Bilibin, E. Lansere and R. Zarrinsh. Were invited to make engravings the best masters engravings: professor of the Russian Academy of Arts P.S. Xydias, graphic artist F. Lundin, famous Austrian engraver F. Schirnbeck. These talented masters of painting and graphics were tasked with developing stamp designs and selecting portraits of Russian monarchs to be reproduced on them, most accurately reproducing their personalities. The choice of reproductions and compositions for the replicated graphic miniature was especially important, since the images on state postal payment signs served as a symbol identifying the country of the issued postal issues. In previous releases this function was performed National emblem Russian Empire.
Emperor Nicholas II personally supervised the publication of the issue. The involvement of Nicholas II in the publication of Romanov stamps is demonstrated in the “Treasury” by an unapproved original and a draft stamp with his own portrait, on the mat of which the emperor’s hand made the inscription: “Not good.”
As a result painstaking work artists, engravers, printing masters, after numerous approvals of drawings and color range stamps, some of the trial versions of stamps and printed projects can be seen in the “Treasury”, seventeen postal miniatures were born in denominations from 1 kopeck to 5 rubles. Fourteen stamps reproduced portraits of the most prominent representatives of the Romanov dynasty, and three stamps reproduced architectural compositions of the royal residences in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Approved draft of portrait stamps of the Romanov issue. 1912
The skill of outstanding masters guaranteed the involvement of the anniversary Romanov series in highly artistic works of vintage graphics. They are rightfully a monument of Russian culture from the beginning of the last century and true witnesses of Russian history.
In the "Treasury" you can get acquainted with the unique original designs of postage stamps created by famous artists M. Dobuzhinsky, G. Narbut and R. Zarrinsh, created on the eve of the First World War. They are distinguished by their diversity: means of transporting mail, images of stamp denominations in an ornamental frame. An interesting theme, relevant on the eve of the war, is “Allegories of the Fatherland”, adequately presented by each of these artists.
Original drawing Allegory of the Fatherland. Russian warrior. M. Dobuzhinsky.
Unfortunately, stamps with these drawings were not published. The original drawings and test prints of future stamps have been preserved and are documentary evidence of the involvement of these artists in stamp graphics.
The marked products published by the Russian Postal Department are presented in the “Treasury” in the form of preparatory material for publication.
The first postcard was put into circulation in Russia in January 1872 under the name “Open Letter”, which later became known as the “Postcard”. The first issue was a form, i.e. unmarked form with space for sticking a stamp. In May of the same year, stamped postcards began to be published, which were recognized by the population for sending through local and non-resident correspondence.
Projects of postage stamps and other marked products were approved for release by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, to whom the Postal Department was subordinate. Materials at this level are marked with authentic resolutions of famous statesmen. A sample postcard issued in 1875 was approved for publication by the Director of the Postal Department, Baron Velio.
Draft postcard, approved. Baron Velio. 1875
Projects of standard stamps “reintroduced” in 1908 attract attention with the authentic signature of approval for issue by the Minister of Internal Affairs P.A. Stolypin.
Approved Stolypin stamp projects. 1908
An independent chapter in the postal history of Russia is represented by closed charity letters with announcements in favor of orphanages, published by the department of Empress Maria Feodorovna from October 1898 to November 1901. The history of their issues has not been sufficiently studied and contains many mysteries and paradoxes. 24 rare letters from the State Collection are placed in special double-sided “Treasury” cassette display cases and are large format marked postal sheets with an image of the charity symbol – a pelican – in the address part. The publication of paid advertisements on charity letterheads made it possible to deduct part of the income in favor of orphanages of the Department of Empress Maria.
Sample of a closed charity letter from the Office of Empress Maria.
The State Collection has a rich collection of zemstvo postage stamps, presented in the “Treasury”. IN pre-revolutionary Russia the state postal service delivered correspondence to provincial and district towns. In rural areas, mail delivery was carried out by local self-government bodies - zemstvos, created in Russia as a result of the reforms of the 60s. XIX century. From 1866 to 1917 County zemstvo posts published their own postage stamps, issued exclusively for their internal needs by zemstvo councils. Printed in small quantities at local printing houses, they have become rarities today. More than 2,500 drawings of zemstvo stamps from different counties were presented by the zemstvo post to collectors of this unique section of Russian and world philately: the issue of zemstvo stamps was tantamount to the discovery of a new philatelic continent. This was all the more interesting because zemstvo stamps were not supposed to repeat the designs and colors of state postal payment marks. This is what created the special attractiveness of zemstvo stamps, which consisted in a huge variety of designs, subjects, shapes, sizes, which distinguished them favorably from state stamps. Most often these are the coats of arms of district and provincial cities, from which one can compile an extensive heraldic collection. Drawings of zemstvo stamps give a clear picture of artistic taste and cultural level Russian province.
The first among the zemstvos to put their stamps into circulation in December 1866 was the Verkhnedneprovsk zemstvo government of the Ekaterinoslav province.
The first zemstvo post stamp of the Verkhnedneprovsk zemstvo. 1866
Zemstvo stamps paid for the postal circulation of letters only within their district. A letter from Bugulma (Samara province) to Moscow, paid for with the stamp of the first issue of 1882 of the Bugulma zemstvo and the state 7-kopeck stamp, is a classic example of the passage of correspondence from the district to the capital through the zemstvo and national mail.
Zemstvo letter, sent by mail from Bugulma to Moscow. 1882
The world's largest collectors collected zemstvo stamps: Philip Ferrari, Agathon Faberge, Karl Schmidt and others.
The history of postal payment marks in post-revolutionary Russia covers the period 1917-1923. This period is divided into two parts: the Provisional Government and Soviet Russia before the formation of the USSR - 1917-1923.
The times, as witnessed by the museum objects in this section of the State Collection, were not easy. Russia went through a difficult period of inflation, changes in power and political system, and civil war. In postal history, this relatively short period of time is characterized by multiple changes in postal rates, which changed 24 times. The materials presented in the “Treasury” reflect the essence of the revolutionary transformations in Russia after the February and October events of 1917.
The history of preparations for the publication of stamps of the Provisional Government remains insufficiently researched. Meanwhile, such masters of graphic miniatures as Richard Zarrins and Sergei Chekhonin prepared their projects for these issues. The section opens with a magnificent graphic drawing depicting the coat of arms of the Provisional Government - a small masterpiece created by Ivan Bilibin as an original for stamp production.
Original unissued stamp of the Provisional Government. I. Bilibin. 1917
It was this outstanding Russian artist who was the author of the design of the new coat of arms of Russia: a double-headed eagle, deprived of the attributes of royal power.
Only in the original drawing by Richard Zarrins, placed on the same mat with the printed project, containing the inscription: “Long live freedom!” and the date of formation of the Provisional Government “March 1, 1917”, one can guess the prototype of the first issue of postage stamps of the RSFSR - the famous “Hands with a sword cutting a chain”.
Original fig. unissued stamp of the Provisional Government. R. Zarrins. 1917
The short period of existence of the Provisional Government did not allow the implementation of any of the stamp projects new Russia. The marked postcards of the Provisional Government were luckier: they still saw the light of day. A draft of such a card with the emblem of the new coat of arms of Russia in the upper left corner, approved by the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs of the Provisional Government A. Nikitin on August 25, 1917, is presented in frames.
Draft item card, approved. Minister of Communications Vr. government by A. Nikitin. 1917
History repeats itself, and the first signs of postage in the new Russia, like the Russian Empire, were not stamps, but whole things.
The next section is devoted to postal issues of the new state formed as a result of the October armed uprising of 1917.
The design of the stamp “Hand with a Sword Cutting a Chain” by R. Zarrins, prepared under the Provisional Government, perfectly reflected the essence of the revolution. The “revolutionary” stamps in denominations of 35 and 70 kopecks, approved by the People's Commissar of Posts and Telegraphs V.N. Podbelsky in May 1918, were put into circulation on the anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7, 1918 in a new style.
Design of the Hand with a Sword brand, approved. V. Podbelsky - People's Commissar of PiT. 1918!
It was time to search new symbolism Soviet state. Along with projects approved for publication and postage stamps put into circulation, visitors can see numerous essays on interesting revolutionary subjects, although many of them were not accepted for release. Created by such masters of postal miniatures as V. Kupriyanov and G. Reindorf, the stamps of the first standard of the country of the Soviets were signed in print in 1921. They reflect the idea of the union of the working class and the peasantry in the form of images of symbols of worker and peasant labor: the sickle, hammer and anvil, plow. At the same time, elements of a new coat of arms with the image of the “Hammer and Sickle” are being formed. Noteworthy is the allegorical work of M. Antonov “The Liberated Proletarian”, which was included in the first standard. On it is an image of a worker who has defeated the hydra of capitalism, proudly looking forward to the “sun of freedom.”
Approved project of standard stamps of the RSFSR. 1921
Among the most interesting works of small graphics, Nathan Altman's drawing, made in 1922 for open competition to create a stamp project dedicated to the fifth anniversary of the October Revolution.
Project fig. stamps for the 5th anniversary of Oct. revolutions. N. Altman. 1922
The unrealized graphic drawing of the brand presented in the “Treasury”, made by N. Altman in the style of constructivism, took 2nd place in the competition. However, for the 5th anniversary of the revolution, the design of the stamp of the artist Ivan Dubasov was approved.
The reasons that prevented the implementation of some stamps were probably a lack of funds and technical difficulties created in the implementation of stamp projects during the Civil War.
In those difficult conditions of postal existence, it was more convenient to use stamps of Tsarist Russia from 1909-1917 to pay for postal correspondence. Resuming the production of standard issues using old ready-made cliches did not require any special costs. The stamps, equipped with a black overprint with the image of a five-pointed star with a hammer and sickle in the center, the name of the new state “RSFSR” and the corresponding denomination, fully satisfied the need for postal payment marks of that difficult period of our national history.
The difficulties of postage during the civil war are demonstrated by highly franked letters that passed through the post office - witnesses to the severe inflation that Soviet Russia experienced. It is difficult to even immediately calculate the amount of payment for sending registered letters - so many postage stamps are affixed to them with overprints of denominations in rubles with five zeros on each.
Philatelic rarities of the Soviet section “Treasuries” are represented by the “consular” post stamp on the letter, the charitable series “Philately for Children” and “Philately for Workers”. Here you can see one of the world's recognized rarities: the famous “Red Army Man” from the standard issue of 1922-1923, the appearance of which was the result of a double mistake. When replacing a worn-out cliche, a cliche of the same design for a 70-ruble stamp was inserted into the printing form of 100-ruble stamps: the 12th stamp in the 3rd quarter of a sheet of 25 stamps has a 70-ruble denomination instead of a 100-ruble denomination. Some sheets of this standard were not perforated. One way or another, toothless sheets with an error are known in single copies in the world.
Standard Red Army soldier imperforate with an error on the 12th stamp in a 5x5 sheet. 1922
Postal miniatures with their artistic design and printing solutions are witnesses of history, miniature monuments of the multifaceted reflection of various historical stages of our state. Fragments of the State collection of postal payment marks, which are presented in a specialized repository, allow us to trace quite long period national history in postage signs. Visitors get acquainted with the design of postage stamps, the subjects of published and unrealized projects, methods of printing postage signs, the original works of postal miniature artists, and the features of preparing stamps for publication. The transformation of the depository into a museum exhibition of the history of domestic postage marks successfully solves the main tasks and functions of the museum: to properly store and display museum objects for visitors.
Google's Cultural Institute is an exemplary example of a modern virtual museum. Started in 2011 as a project dedicated exclusively to art museums, the resource now includes a section on history, as well as the most amazing places on the planet. In addition to viewing high-resolution pictures, the site offers virtual tour with an impressive interface and audio guide. Here you can see sites such as galleryTate in London, galleryUffizi ,
Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, Uzey Orsay in Paris, Royal Museum in Amsterdam and others. Recently Google digitized the last Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art. A project about street art from around the world deserves special attention Street Art.
Guggenheim Museum
But most famous museums Today they consider it necessary to form a virtual collection on the Internet, once again confirming their ownership of masterpieces and distributing high-quality reproductions of their paintings. In particular, the Guggenheim Museum has created an online collection with a convenient category by name and direction, thus uniting the collections of all four cities where the museum is located, and other projects of the Guggenheim Foundation. The virtual museum includes many options: among other things, it is an informative site with lectures and videos on various topics.
Virtual tours of the Paris Louvre
The Louvre is not represented in the Google cultural project (discussed above); it prefers to develop its own online platform. On its website, the museum allows you to walk through several rooms. The foot of the walls of the royal palace on the first floor of the museum, a hall with relics of antiquity and Ancient Egypt can be seen as a virtual panorama.
Oxford History and Science Museum
On the website of one of the world's most famous science museums you can see photographs and panoramas of the exhibitions. All this is part of one big virtual Oxford tour . One of the notable exhibits of the virtual museum is the board on which Einstein wrote during his famous lecture at the university in 1931. A whole nostalgic project has been created on the museum website Goodbye board! » , which featured British celebrities like Brian Eno and Robert May. It turned out nice.
Virtual George Washington Museum Mount Vernon
Free walk through the cradle of American democracy - the George Washington Museum Mount Vernon. The place where America's first president worked and lived has been digitized by the museum's creators with incredible care. A detailed online tour with photographs, information blocks, and an audio guide in English is also supported by a video with actors in costumes of the late 18th century. Everything to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a historical place.
Virtual Museum of Things Thngs.co
The young project, which has already won recognition among IT industry specialists and ordinary users, will appeal to those who are interested in the history of things and are inclined to create their own collections. The authors themselves call their site a Facebook for things. Each item or category of items has its own timeline, where you can track the evolution of the object from a historical perspective. The viewer is offered only facts: year, place and appearance. The focus on objectivity and simplicity sets this project apart from others. In particular, it will help to verify this selection items of Soviet heritage. The project was launched recently, but promises to develop and grow rapidly.
Europeana Project
Rather, this is a project of an encyclopedic nature, but due to the emphasis on visual culture, it deserves the title of a museum. The resource allows the user to go on a real virtual tour of a subject that interests him, be it bicycles of the early 20th century, antique vases or postcards with views of St. Petersburg. You just need to enter the data, the era - and the resource will provide a list of images, texts, videos and audio tracks to help make the perception of the subject as voluminous and complete as possible.
World Digital Library
Similar to Europeana, but already Russified, the World Digital Library project can also provide useful facts and images on any topic. The site is aesthetically pleasing and easy to use, so you can get stuck for a long time studying the legislative acts of the times Kievan Rus or a chronicle of the 1947 US Baseball Championship out of simple curiosity.
National Museum of Natural History in Washington
American National Museum natural history allows you to walk through the halls, examine in detail the fossils of ancient creatures, collections of insects and birds, and even Egyptian mummies presented in the exhibition. In general, immerse yourself in the history of natural history, even if you do not have the opportunity to visit a museum in real life. The site also has a large section with interactive materials and videos on topics.
NASA Museum
Fans of space themes can't miss it! virtual project, dedicated to the history of the world famous US space agency. The launch of the resource was timed to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the organization in 2008. In addition to the successes of American astronautics, the technical details space shipbuilding and launching spacecraft, and a good-natured robot will show you what to click on next.
At the opening of the exhibition “Russia. XX I century: challenges of the time and development priorities" at the State Museum of Contemporary History of Russia. The general director of the museum, I. Velikanova, speaks. Photo by A. Torin.
On Constitution Day, a new exhibition opened at the Museum of Contemporary Russian History. It was called “Russia. XXI century: challenges of the time and development priorities" and covers the history of modern times - from perestroika to the present day. The opening ceremony was attended by the Minister of Culture of Russia Vladimir Medinsky and the Minister of Education and Science of the Russian Federation Olga Vasilyeva.
The exhibition was housed in six halls with a total area of 700 square meters. m. As artistic solution The exhibition chose the image of the difficult, multi-story, sometimes tragic path that the country has gone through over the past three decades. Distinctive feature The project was a combination of authentic exhibits and multimedia technologies. Enormous assistance in creating the exposition was provided by the All-Russian State Television and Radio Company, which provided chronicles of the most important events of recent decades, as well as the International information Agency“Russia Today”, which acted as the general partner of the project. Russians provided invaluable assistance to the museum. state archive socio-political history and its director A. Sorokin, the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences and its director Yu. Petrov, as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
Attention to visitors State Museum modern history of Russia, for the first time in the post-Soviet period, a museum exhibition was presented dedicated to the difficult path that our country has passed over the past three decades.
According to Irina Velikanova, General Director of the Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, the project presented to visitors can be compared to a multimedia anthology, which is based, on the one hand, on documentary chronicles, eyewitness accounts and direct participants in events, unique documents and exhibits, and on the other hand, on the latest technologies , through which information is provided.
According to the Minister of Education and Science Olga Vasilyeva, the new museum project represents the basis for further research into current political and social problems.
“We have been restoring this building for the third year now, overhauling it in parts,” Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky noted in his speech. - Next year we will take care of the branches of the museum. The building of the former English Club in Moscow should become one of the most visited museum spaces in the capital.”
Currently on display at the exhibition “Russia. XXI Century” contains 1,400 objects and 10 thousand documents, however, this is not the limit. According to the organizers, the exhibition will be updated almost in real time, incorporating all the most important evidence of the time. In order to “immerse yourself in the era,” 14 multimedia kiosks are located in six halls, when accessing them you can learn in great detail about the events that took place, listen to audio and video recordings. Some of them were made specifically for the museum. Of significant interest to visitors will be the interview with the commander of the Black Sea Fleet in 1991-1992, Admiral Igor Kasatonov, about the circumstances of the division of the fleet between the Russian Federation and Ukraine and his refusal to take the oath to Kyiv.
Among the exhibits presented to the attention of visitors are relics from the inauguration of the first and last President of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev and the first President of Russia Boris Yeltsin, personal belongings of the defenders of the House of Soviets of the RSFSR (“White House”) in August 1991, a sheet with the inscription in blood “Don’t shoot at us!”, which was hung in the window by hostages during the tragic events in Budennovsk in June 1995, personal belongings of People's Deputy of the USSR Galina Starovoitova. The exhibition presents personal belongings of the Prime Ministers of the Russian Federation Viktor Chernomyrdin and Evgeny Primakov. It is all the more valuable that the organizers of the project did not set the task of condemning or extolling any of the active participants in the events of the 1990-2000s. This exhibition rather encourages reflection on the causes and consequences of events that our entire multinational people witnessed until recently.
Exhibition showcase dedicated to tragic events in Moscow on October 3-4, 1993. Photo by A. Torin.
In the halls dedicated to the modern period, a special place is given to the referendum in Crimea in March 2014. Using a special multimedia program, anyone can study in detail the history of Crimea - from joining the Russian Empire in 1783 to latest events. An exclusive exhibit of the exhibition was the pen with which Russian President V. Putin signed the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea and the formation of new entities within Russia.
An exhibition dedicated to the reunification of Crimea with Russia. Among the exhibits on the right is a voting ballot for the all-Crimean referendum on March 16, 2014. In the center is a pen with which the President of Russia signed the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Crimea and the formation of new entities within Russia. On the right is the Presidential order on the signing of this Treaty. Photo by A. Torin.
An important place at the exhibition is given to the development of science and technology in modern Russia. Among the most valuable exhibits is the fairing from the first rocket launched in April 2016 from the Vostochny cosmodrome on Far East; model of the Angara launch vehicle; spacesuit of pilot-cosmonaut, Hero of Russia Fyodor Yurchikhin. Military developments of recent years also found a prominent place in the new exhibition - the T-14 Armata tank and the Russian Ratnik combat equipment.
Model of the T-14 Armata tank presented at the exhibition. Photo by A. Torin.
The exhibition features exhibits illustrating Russia's participation in peacekeeping operations, as well as contemporary events unfolding in Syria. Among them is a valuable trophy: the black flag of the terrorist organization Daesh, captured during the liberation of Palmyra.
Model of the Prirazlomnaya offshore ice-resistant stationary platform (OIFP). Photo by A. Torin.
Significant emphasis within the exhibition is given to the development of the North. A showcase dedicated to this issue displays a capsule with the first Arctic oil, as well as a model of an ice-resistant oil platform"Prirazlomnaya". The museum displays personal belongings of the famous Russian polar explorer, Hero of the Soviet Union and Hero of Russia Artur Chilingarov. Visitors to the exhibition can see a model of the deep-sea submersible "Mir", on which, during the "Arctic-2007" expedition, people reached the bottom at a geographical point North Pole. The expedition participants managed to prove that the Lomonosov Ridge, in the area of which, according to preliminary data, up to a quarter of the world's hydrocarbon reserves are located, is part of the Russian continental shelf.
The central multimedia object of the exhibition was the unique interactive map “Russia - My Motherland”. It includes 15 information layers and 1500 loaded objects. The map allows you to obtain comprehensive data about the subjects of the country, their history, peoples and religions, cultural and natural wealth.
The final chord of the project was the demonstration of the panoramic video film “Symbols of Russia”, the leitmotif of which was the theme of the unity and traditions of the Russian people - from the baptism of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Svyatoslavich in Chersonesus to the modern stage of development of the Russian Federation. Thus, the visitor to the exhibition feels that new pages of history are being created before his eyes, and he himself is a direct participant in this process. I would like to hope that this exhibition will gain popularity not only as a museum object, but also as a source of forming a balanced view of the past and present of our country.