BESTIARY
Short description:
A mediaeval anthology of zoological articles executed in the style of a type of Russian folk art – the humorous, fabulous lubok (popular print). The handwritten text of the amusing tales and comical illustrations are the work of the artist Alexander Andreyev.
Artists:
Edition:
25 copies numbered and signed by the publisher and the artist. Copy № 7 is in the collection of the State Hermitage.
Additional information
Details of the creation of this masterpiece
-
Year of publication:1995
-
Number of pages:30 sheets (15 unsewn signatures)
-
Dimensions:sheets — 430 × 250 mm; case — 460 × 270 × 20 mm
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Paper:Flannel (Sweden), 220 g/m², Wenzhou (China), 230 g/m² (copies 1–5); Canson (France), 180 g/m², Wenzhou (China), 230 g/m² (copies 6–25)
Language:
Russian
A bestiary was a mediaeval collection of texts describing the appearance and behaviour of animals, richly embellished with illustrations. The entries might be in prose or verse and were accompanied by allegorical interpretations in the spirit of Christian morality intended to edify the reader.
Bestiaries were the first encyclopaedias of the animal world and at the same time the first moral-symbolic writings in which each animal was regarded both as a living creature and as an allegory of human virtues and vices. In them, scholarly information about the world’s fauna was interlaced with pre-Christian myths, folk beliefs and legends.
Bestiaries were the first encyclopaedias of the animal world and at the same time the first moral-symbolic writings in which each animal was regarded both as a living creature and as an allegory of human virtues and vices. In them, scholarly information about the world’s fauna was interlaced with pre-Christian myths, folk beliefs and legends.
Bestiaries exerted a considerable influence on the visual arts, architecture, poetry, heraldry and coinage. A large number of such collections have been produced over the centuries by authors that include Leonardo da Vinci, Marco Polo and Guillaume Apollinaire. Typical elements of the genre can be found in the works of Jorge Luis Borges, J. K. Rowling and Lewis Carroll.
Participants in the work on this publication:
Creator of the illustrations, design of the case, layout, handwritten texts, printing of the xylographs — Alexander Andreyev
Binding work — Alexander Borsuk (copies 1, 2), Andrei Degtev and Konstantin Svetlov (copies 3–25)
Participants in the work on this publication:
Creator of the illustrations, design of the case, layout, handwritten texts, printing of the xylographs — Alexander Andreyev
Binding work — Alexander Borsuk (copies 1, 2), Andrei Degtev and Konstantin Svetlov (copies 3–25)
All the animals featured in our Bestiary — dog, cat, cricket, sparrow, crayfish, and so on — are personages of folklore, fables, omens and superstitions. Consequently, the descriptions of the creatures (copied from the Small Soviet Encyclopaedia) accompanying the woodcuts take on the form of folk tales.
The artist wrote these texts out by hand, which invests Alexander Andreyev’s Bestiary with the uniqueness of improvisation and stylistic completeness.
The artist wrote these texts out by hand, which invests Alexander Andreyev’s Bestiary with the uniqueness of improvisation and stylistic completeness.
The Rare Books from Saint Petersburg publishing house’s Bestiary has been made in the style of the Russian humorous, fabulous lubok (popular print).
The subjects of the illustrations, which the artist Alexander Andreyev created in the woodcut technique that was also typical for early European popular prints, continue the traditions of the 18th-century Moscow lubok and also of comic prints with captions in the form of brief stories or fairy tales that were widely sold in days gone by.
The subjects of the illustrations, which the artist Alexander Andreyev created in the woodcut technique that was also typical for early European popular prints, continue the traditions of the 18th-century Moscow lubok and also of comic prints with captions in the form of brief stories or fairy tales that were widely sold in days gone by.
The book was bound in four different ways: in satin (copy 1), in paper (copy 2) and in silk (copies 3–25).
The front cover of each incorporates an original limewood block used to print one of the woodcuts including the title of the book.
The front cover of each incorporates an original limewood block used to print one of the woodcuts including the title of the book.
Additional information
Details of the creation of this masterpiece
About this edition
About this edition:
-
Year of publication:1995
-
Number of pages:30 sheets (15 unsewn signatures)
-
Dimensions:sheets — 430 × 250 mm; case — 460 × 270 × 20 mm
-
Paper:Flannel (Sweden), 220 g/m², Wenzhou (China), 230 g/m² (copies 1–5); Canson (France), 180 g/m², Wenzhou (China), 230 g/m² (copies 6–25)
Language:
Russian
A bestiary was a mediaeval collection of texts describing the appearance and behaviour of animals, richly embellished with illustrations. The entries might be in prose or verse and were accompanied by allegorical interpretations in the spirit of Christian morality intended to edify the reader.
Bestiaries were the first encyclopaedias of the animal world and at the same time the first moral-symbolic writings in which each animal was regarded both as a living creature and as an allegory of human virtues and vices. In them, scholarly information about the world’s fauna was interlaced with pre-Christian myths, folk beliefs and legends.
Bestiaries were the first encyclopaedias of the animal world and at the same time the first moral-symbolic writings in which each animal was regarded both as a living creature and as an allegory of human virtues and vices. In them, scholarly information about the world’s fauna was interlaced with pre-Christian myths, folk beliefs and legends.
Bestiaries exerted a considerable influence on the visual arts, architecture, poetry, heraldry and coinage. A large number of such collections have been produced over the centuries by authors that include Leonardo da Vinci, Marco Polo and Guillaume Apollinaire. Typical elements of the genre can be found in the works of Jorge Luis Borges, J. K. Rowling and Lewis Carroll.
Participants in the work on this publication:
Creator of the illustrations, design of the case, layout, handwritten texts, printing of the xylographs — Alexander Andreyev
Binding work — Alexander Borsuk (copies 1, 2), Andrei Degtev and Konstantin Svetlov (copies 3–25)
Participants in the work on this publication:
Creator of the illustrations, design of the case, layout, handwritten texts, printing of the xylographs — Alexander Andreyev
Binding work — Alexander Borsuk (copies 1, 2), Andrei Degtev and Konstantin Svetlov (copies 3–25)
Text
All the animals featured in our Bestiary — dog, cat, cricket, sparrow, crayfish, and so on — are personages of folklore, fables, omens and superstitions. Consequently, the descriptions of the creatures (copied from the Small Soviet Encyclopaedia) accompanying the woodcuts take on the form of folk tales.
The artist wrote these texts out by hand, which invests Alexander Andreyev’s Bestiary with the uniqueness of improvisation and stylistic completeness.
The artist wrote these texts out by hand, which invests Alexander Andreyev’s Bestiary with the uniqueness of improvisation and stylistic completeness.
Illustrations
The Rare Books from Saint Petersburg publishing house’s Bestiary has been made in the style of the Russian humorous, fabulous lubok (popular print).
The subjects of the illustrations, which the artist Alexander Andreyev created in the woodcut technique that was also typical for early European popular prints, continue the traditions of the 18th-century Moscow lubok and also of comic prints with captions in the form of brief stories or fairy tales that were widely sold in days gone by.
The subjects of the illustrations, which the artist Alexander Andreyev created in the woodcut technique that was also typical for early European popular prints, continue the traditions of the 18th-century Moscow lubok and also of comic prints with captions in the form of brief stories or fairy tales that were widely sold in days gone by.
Binding
The book was bound in four different ways: in satin (copy 1), in paper (copy 2) and in silk (copies 3–25).
The front cover of each incorporates an original limewood block used to print one of the woodcuts including the title of the book.
The front cover of each incorporates an original limewood block used to print one of the woodcuts including the title of the book.
BESTIARY
A mediaeval anthology of zoological articles executed in the style of a type of Russian folk art