Twice ToldMaterialy dlya istorii Imperatorskoi Akademii nauk, vol. 5 (1889): the 1742 report on Bruce's goods and extracts from the register of his books and instruments
- Language
- Russian
- Reading
- transcribed from the page image
- Translation
- ours
- Retrieved
- 15 October 2026
Spelling as printed (pre-1918 orthography). Each extract is headed by its printed page. Entry numbers are the register’s own. ”[…]” marks text left out.
[p. 151, no. 175, last sentence of the report signed I. D. Shumakher, 31 May 1742]
Всѣ оныя вещи оцѣнены знающими людьми, которые смотрѣли на внутреннюю их доброту; однакожъ, ежели разсуждать курїозность и охотника до таких вещей, то за оныя сверхъ положенной по оцѣнкѣ суммы, четырехъ тысячъ двухъ рублевъ одной копейки двухъ третей, можно бы еще нѣсколько тысячъ рублевъ болѣе дать.
[p. 152, the heading of the register]
Вѣдомость, что по описи явилось въ домѣ покойнаго господина генерала фельдмаршала и кавалера Якова Вилемовича Брюса въ библіотекѣ книгъ нѣмецкихъ разныхъ діалектовъ и россійскихъ, а именно:
[p. 194, entries from 772 to 780 (the end of 772 is at the top of the page)]
[…] — Гилдебранда, Магія натуральная, на латинскомъ языкѣ. 777) Геомантическія таблицы, на латинскомъ языкѣ. 780) Христіана Томазія, Волшебная наука, на нѣмецкомъ языкѣ.
[p. 195, entries 795 and 811]
- Балтазара Бекера, Обвороженный свѣтъ, на нѣмецкомъ языкѣ, въ Амст. 1693.
- Ключъ къ астрологіи, на латинскомъ языкѣ, въ Лондонѣ. 1676.
[p. 203, entry 974]
- Астрологическій календарь, на нѣмецкомъ языкѣ.
[p. 220, entries 1318, 1320 and 1326]
- Философическія тайности, на латинскомъ языкѣ, въ Лондонѣ. 1697.
- Введеніе въ астрологію, на аглинскомъ языкѣ, въ Лондонѣ. 1694, въ 12-ю долю листа.
- Совершенная геомантія, на нѣмецкомъ языкѣ, въ Фрейштадѣ. 1704, въ 12-ю долю листа.
[p. 225, the last numbered entries and the line after them]
- Такой же.
При семъ еще въ переплетѣ и безъ переплета, также и рукописные книги, находятся слѣдующія:
[p. 180, the heading of the second register and its first two entries]
Вѣдомость, что по описи явилось въ домѣ покойнаго господина генерала фельдмаршала и кавалера Якова Вилемовича Брюса въ библіотекѣ инструментовъ разныхъ и протчихъ вещей, а именно:
- Глобъ небесный, Тихобрашевой системы, Вилима Блауа, діаметрія аршина въ полтора.
- Такой же величины, земной.
Translation
Ours.
[p. 151, no. 175, last sentence of the report signed I. D. Shumakher, 31 May 1742]
All those things have been appraised by knowledgeable people, who looked at their intrinsic worth; but if one considers their rarity and the keen collectors of such things, several thousand roubles more could still be given for them over the sum set by the appraisal, four thousand two roubles one kopeck two thirds.
[p. 152, the heading of the register]
Statement of what turned up, by the inventory, in the house of the late Mr General Field Marshal and Cavalier Jacob Vilimovich Bruce, in the library of books, German in various dialects and Russian, namely:
[p. 194, entries from 772 to 780]
[…] — Hildebrand, Natural Magic, in Latin. 777) Geomantic tables, in Latin. 780) Christian Thomasius, The Magic Science, in German.
[p. 195, entries 795 and 811]
- Balthasar Bekker, The Enchanted World, in German, Amsterdam, 1693.
- A Key to Astrology, in Latin, London, 1676.
[p. 203, entry 974]
- An astrological calendar, in German.
[p. 220, entries 1318, 1320 and 1326]
- Philosophical secrets, in Latin, London, 1697.
- An introduction to astrology, in English, London, 1694, in twelfth-sheet size.
- Complete geomancy, in German, Freystadt, 1704, in twelfth-sheet size.
[p. 225, the last numbered entries and the line after them]
- The same.
With these there are also, bound and unbound, and also manuscript books, the following:
[p. 180, the heading of the second register and its first two entries]
Statement of what turned up, by the inventory, in the house of the late Mr General Field Marshal and Cavalier Jacob Vilimovich Bruce, in the library of instruments of various kinds and other things, namely:
- A celestial globe, of the Tychonic system, by Willem Blaeu, an arshin and a half across.
- The same size, a terrestrial one.
Notes
What it is. A printed collection of papers of the St Petersburg Academy of Sciences, edited by M. I. Sukhomlinov (1889). Under 31 May and 1 June 1742 it prints the Academy’s answer to a Cabinet order of 15 March 1742 to say when and on what order Bruce’s curiosities were taken and what they were worth, and, attached, the register of what the Academy held. Kopaneva (2020) names these pages as the inventory of 1742 (Materialy 1889: 152 to 245). The register is not dated 1735; whether it repeats the 1735 list entry for entry, we have not checked.
How the register is built. Book entries run in one numbering from 1 to 735 in the main list, which ends on p. 180 (read there through the facing page’s show-through), and from 736 to 1432 under “Addition to the books of General Field Marshal Bruce” (pp. 192 to 225). An entry can bundle several works, so the numbering is not a count of volumes. Entries give title, language, place and year of printing, and sometimes format. Instruments, minerals, curiosities and pictures stand in their own numbered lists. We read the pages above as images; the rest of the register was seen only in OCR text.
What the entries show. The entries above are the ones on astrology, geomancy and “natural” or “magic” arts, picked from the whole register by searching the OCR text for those words and then checking each on the page image; a search of that kind can miss entries whose titles do not use the words, and we did not read every page. “Волшебная наука” is rendered “The Magic Science” because the register gives only the Russian title; the author is given as “Христіана Томазія”, rendered Christian Thomasius, and the register does not say which of his works is meant. “Обвороженный свѣтъ” is rendered “The Enchanted World” and the author as Balthasar Bekker, on the register’s wording alone.
Our reading. In Schumacher’s sentence we read “четырехъ тысячъ двухъ рублевъ одной копейки двухъ третей” as 4,002 roubles and 1 2/3 kopecks. Kopaneva quotes a different figure, 4,568 roubles, from another file (RGADA f. 17, op. 1, d. 10), and in her quotation of the same report puts an ellipsis where the sum stands. “Тихобрашевой системы” is “of Tycho Brahe’s system”; “аршина въ полтора” is “an arshin and a half”.