Russian Imperial Specimen, 1913

This specimen comes from the Imperial printing works of the military academy of Nicholas II of Russia, founded in 1912. Historically, this is the very end of the Empire before October’s revolution and the takeover of power by the communists in 1917. This artefact is a good testimony of the commercial relationships between the Russian Empire and the rest of Europe.

Indeed, in this specimen from the Russian Imperial printing works, one can find German founts and texts, alongside French creations, meant for publishing use. Germany and Russia had important commercial relationships at the time, and so had France, which maintained strong ties with the Empire since the reign of Peter the Great.

Today, Russia heavily restricts the exportations of pre-1953 Russian books, mostly for reasons pertaining to cultural heritage preservation. This means that this book from Production Type’s library arrived on the French territory before this date: we may wonder what journey it underwent, and the reasons why it arrived here, before it found its home at Production Type.

Documents: Biblioteca Produzione