In December 2020, as part of the Cultural Dialogue: Meetings in the Provinces project, organized by the Russian Cultural Foundation and the Centralized Library System of Ulyanovsk, unique printed publications were published. Among them are the Illustrated Catalog of Books of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries, Goncharov's Heroes in Illustrations by Russian Artists, and the graphic novel Poor Liza, also published in English.

"Heroes of Goncharov"

The basis of the literary and artistic album "Heroes of Goncharov in the illustrations of Russian artists" is a collection of illustrations for four works by Ivan Aleksandrovich Goncharov from the collection of the Ulyanovsk Regional Museum of Local Lore named after I.A. Goncharova. The collection includes about three hundred paintings created by artists of the 20th-21st centuries for the novels An Ordinary History, Oblomov, The Precipice and based on the book of essays The Frigate Pallada.

The literary and artistic album is the first generalized attempt to demonstrate and comprehend the visual image of artistic images created by the novelist.

The illustrations for "Oblomov" are the most widely represented in the museum's collection. This novel for an illustrator is both simple and complex. The protagonist of the novel belongs to those rare types whose visual image is recognizable without deciphering. No matter how the image of Oblomov is interpreted, one cannot do without appropriate accessories - a sofa, a dressing gown and slippers.

The first fully illustrated edition of the novel can be considered books with drawings by S.M. Shore. In 1929, her illustrations were published for a separate edition of the chapter "Oblomov's Dream". A few years later, the artist designed the entire work. Shor created the illustrations presented in the museum collection using the drypoint technique.

Creating "The Cliff", Goncharov experienced the moments of the greatest creative take-off, but after the publication of the novel, he experienced the full bitterness of misunderstanding. The work still largely remains not fully understood by specialists today. However, "Cliff" has always been loved by readers.

Goncharovsky's "Cliff" became a milestone in the illustration work of D.B. Borovsky. He was the author of dust jackets, half titles, intros, page illustrations and half-page illustrations. In his work, the artist chose the principle of trust in a literary work, getting used to it, as in reality. The concept of his work is a combination of the visual range and the text of the novel as a whole. A significant achievement of the young artist was the portrait images of the novel, in the creation of which Borovsky also relied on his own aesthetic instinct.

To the novel "Ordinary History", in addition to the works of A.D. Silina, M.I. Kozmin and P.N. Pinkisevich, the museum collection includes illustrations by A.M. Kuznetsov, made in the early 2000s. The artist designed the entire book: the color cover was done in watercolor, and the black-and-white illustrations, intros and endings for parts of the novel were done in ink. The author conveys the main plot moves, emotions and feelings of the characters, pays attention to the careful portrayal of the everyday atmosphere of the "Ordinary Story".

Of particular value in the collection of the museum I.A. Goncharov have illustrations by artists B.K. Vinokurov and V.D. Tselmer to the book of travel essays "Frigate" Pallada ". Goncharov saw and recreated in his work a broad picture of the world of the mid-19th century, which included European England, and the islands of three oceans, and the countries of southern Africa and Asia, as well as the Russian Far East and Siberia.

Two books for the 255th anniversary of Karamzin

On the occasion of the 255th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, an outstanding historian, the first professional writer in Russia, the famous author of the History of the Russian State, whose anniversary will be celebrated in 2021, two books were published at once: “Illustrated catalog of books of the late XIX and early XX centuries ”, which is addressed to bibliophiles, book historians and local historians, as well as a graphic novel for teenagers “Poor Lisa”.

Karamzin's work contributed to the development of interest in reading in Russian society, for the first time opened up fascinating pages of the history of the Fatherland for many, and his journalistic activities attracted both children and adults to meaningful literary periodicals.

The Illustrated Catalog of Books of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries presents samples of domestic book production from the collections of public libraries in Russia. The variety of books, magazines and almanacs gives a vivid idea of ​​the interests of Russian readers. The materials in the catalog are structured into three sections: "Historical Literature", "Fiction, Journalism and Illustrated Editions", "Periodicals".

And the graphic novel "Poor Liza" appeared as a result of the "Drawing as a Word" project, which was attended by teenagers and young people aged 14 to 20, philologists and artists. Together they adapted the text from Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin's story "Poor Lisa".

The storyline of the author is preserved in the graphic novel, and the artist Pavel Klementyev reveals the characters of the characters through the images and atmosphere of the 18th century. The graphic novel "Poor Lisa" is addressed to older schoolchildren and published in two languages: Russian and English.