They make it possible to trace the stages of the thousand-year evolution of Western Christianity from the conversion of the Germanic barbarian tribes to Christianity up to the Reformation of the 16th century, when the Western Church was divided into into Catholic and Protestant groups. Stored in the NLR, medieval literary landmarks cover the period from the 5th to the early 16th centuries. The religion permeates all spheres of life of the medieval society. Established in the Middle Ages, national states and institutions promoted the further development of Western civilization.ĭespite its many-sidedness, spirituality and culture of the Middle Ages were built around a single vector. It laid the foundations of modern sciences and an education system. During this period, a Christian community was formed in Europe. The Middle Ages have a special place in the history of Europe. ABC Books, Primers, Grammars, Dictionaries of the 16-17 Centuries Collection of Bibles from the Rare Books Department's Holdings.Voltaire and Rousseau: Irreconcilable Contradiction?.Coats of Arms of the Cities of the Russian Empire.

French Royal Bindings of the 17th - 19th Centuries.The Rare Books Department can boast Voltaire's Library, the unique monument of 18th century culture, that is one of some well surviving private libraries of that time. The most remarkable among collections are Aldine editions of the 15th - 16th centuries and Elseviers produced by the celebrated 17th/century Dutch family firm.

The library has no rival for its stock of early Russian printed books and Slavonic incunabula, it also holds a large amount of West European publications from the 16th and 17th century. An appreciable portion of those are incunabula (books printed before 1501): about 7 000 works. The library's stock of rare books contains more than 70 000 volumes.

Feudal kingdoms became the norm