Alexander III 16 Times Signed & Personally Owned Finely Bound News Journals From the Russian Imperial Library

L'Illustration Journal Universel. Paris. A bound set of lavishly illustrated individual weekly news journals for dates of July- December of 1887. 15.5" tall by 12" wide. Written in the World language of the period, French. Condition report and provenance below.

This outstanding book is a bound set of Journal Issues representing the weekly world news from politics to the arts and science (with emphasis around Europe and Russia) and was personally owned by Alexander III. The book includes Alexander III's personal bookplate to the paisley coated end papers, and  Alexander's giant 3" manuscript "A" in red pencil in approximately 16 of the weekly title pages within this volume. The balance of the title pages also bear his personal blue stamp. Perhaps the stamps and/or his initials were placed by Alexander III to discern which news week he had just completed reading. The book also bears the striking RUSSIAN IMPERIAL LIBRARY STAMP for the Gatchina Palace in Cyrillic text located on the front end paper. The Gatchina Palace was a favorite residence of the Imperial family after it had been enlarged substantially by Alexander II's father Nicholas I. An image of his bookplate appears in our photos for the listing, along with Alexanders manuscript letter "A", his blue stamps and the Russian Imperial Stamp.

Provenance: Alexandre III of Russia (1845-1894), Russian Imperial Library at Gatchina Palace. Ex. Christies with the original Christies tag included.

Condition: Worn and rubbed boards in red cloth and quarter leather spine with leather corner tips. The leather is blackened, with the spine missing. Front board detached. Original end papers present with the bookplate of Alexander III present and in excellent condition. The book is internally clean throughout with Alexander III's bold manuscript "A", and his stamps all present and in wonderful condition. 

Alexander III was Emperor of Russia, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from March 13, 1881 until his death in 1894.  During his reign, Russia fought no major wars; he was therefore styled "The Peacemaker". In foreign affairs Alexander III was a man of peace, but not at any price, and held that the best means of averting war is to be well-prepared for it. All of Alexander III's internal reforms aimed to reverse the liberalization that had occurred in his father's reign. The new Emperor believed that remaining true to Russian Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality (the ideology introduced by his grandfather, emperor Nicholas I) would save Russia from revolutionary agitation. Alexander weakened the power of the zemstvo (elective local administrative bodies) and placed the administration of peasant communes under the supervision of land-owning proprietors appointed by his government. These "land captains" (zemskiye nachalniki) were feared and resented throughout the Empire's peasant communities. 

Alexander III took initiatives to stimulate the development of trade and industry, as his father did before him. Russia's economy was still challenged by the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, which created a deficit, so he imposed customs duties on imported goods. To further alleviate the budget deficit, he implemented increased frugality and accounting in state finances. Industrial development increased during his reign. Also during his reign, construction of the Trans Siberian Railway was started.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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