The Russian National Library displayed a unique Russian coat of arms, one of the first publications of this kind in our country. It was published at the end of the 18th century, was almost immediately recognized as insufficient, and several decades later it ended up in the Imperial Public Library.
The library presented the “Guide to Heraldry, i.e. the Science of Coats of Arms”, compiled by the King of Arms Lukyan Talyzin (1741 – after 1794) in the section “Books of Main Monuments”. The National Library of Russia explained that the publication was published in the early 1790s and represents one of the first handwritten coats of arms in Russia. For many years this manuscript was unattainable for researchers.
“In 1852, the book, along with other Hermitage manuscripts, entered the Imperial Public Library,” the RNL said. “During the era of renewed widespread interest in genealogy in the 1990s, the monument was introduced into scientific circulation and remains to this day the focus of attention of researchers.”
The Armorial is a book with images of various coats of arms and emblems, including states and cities, as well as noble families. The images are accompanied by texts with descriptions.
The Talyzin arsenal became one of the first collections of this kind in Russia, although it became widespread in Western Europe back in the 13th century. The uniqueness of the rarity is added to by the fact that it was handwritten.
Photo by: RNB
“In Russia, heraldry originated in the second half of the 17th century: during the reign of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, new Russian coats of arms and emblems based on Polish and Western European traditions began to be developed,” RNL reported.
Under Peter the Great, a special institution appeared, whose responsibilities included maintaining noble genealogical books and drawing up coats of arms: the Heraldry Office under the Governing Senate.
Lukyan Talyzin headed this office from 1783 to 1794, that is, until the time of his death. He created his famous coat of arms in 1790. The full title of the manuscript was: “A guide to heraldry, i.e. the science of coats of arms, containing the origin, foundation and necessary rules of this science concerning Russian coats of arms with their scheme and description.”
In it, Talyzin first of all gave a description of the Russian imperial coat of arms. He also described 459 coats of arms of cities approved in 1772-1790. In addition, the manuscript contained descriptions and coloured images of family coats of arms, including 21 princely coats of arms, 26 coats of arms of counts, 15 coats of arms of barons and 385 coats of arms of nobles.
The author’s dedication is preserved on the first pages of the manuscript, from which it follows that Talyzin presented his work to Empress Catherine II. However, in the future, a difficult fate awaited the Armorial. Emperor Paul ordered that it not be used as a source of information, as he considered Talyzin’s arsenal to be insufficient.
And in 1797 work began on the creation of a new collection – “General Armory of Noble Families”. Talyzin’s work was not officially taken into account. But there is an opinion that the compilers of the new armory relied on Talyzin’s experience, although they did not have access to the manuscript. At that time, the coat of arms was kept in the Hermitage library.
Before Talyzin, two universal works on heraldry were known: the Armorial of Andrei Grekov, written in 1769, and the “Collection of Family Coats of Arms” by Anisim Knyazev, dated 1775. Talyzin’s work was the most fundamental among them.
