query re: Russian commonplace books

[William Ryan]

See Brokgauz & Efron: 'AL'BOM, 2,  Kniga ili tetrad' iz belykh listov, 
kuda zanosiatsia zametki, stikhotvoreniia, avtografy, risunki.' (other 
Russian dictionaries have similar definitions). This seems closest to 
what is required by RJS, although I think  tetrad' could also be used in 
this sense. French 'album' is used in the same sense, and so is the 
English 'album' - 'a book tastefully bound, and kept chiefly by ladies 
to be filled, as opportunity presents itself, with scraps of poetry, or 
autographs or anything similar'(Lloyd's Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1895).

In fact the English term 'commonplace book' itself is not consistently 
used: see OED 'Commonplace book. Formerly /Book of common places/ (see 
COMMON-PLACE 
<http://0-dictionary.oed.com.catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/cgi/crossref?query_type=word&queryword=commonplace+book&first=1&max_to_show=10&single=1&sort_type=alpha&xrefword=common-place&ps=n.> 
/n./ 3). /orig./ A book in which 'commonplaces' or passages important 
for reference were collected, usually under general heads; hence, a book 
in which one records passages or matters to be especially remembered or 
referred to, with or without arrangement.' The more literary kind of 
commonplace book seems to have developed later.

But it is also clear that al'bom or tetrad' have wider ranges of meaning 
than the rather more specific English term.

Will Ryan



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Rebecca Jane Stanton wrote:
> Yes, but the book of my friend (who is not a high school girl but a 
> middle-aged woman, and is not of a particularly educated class) is 
> more akin to what we understand as a commonplace book, in the sense 
> that while everything is beautifully written out, it's not just poetry 
> that goes in there but also other quotations, proverbs, recipes, 
> horoscopes, her own verses, etc.  The point I am trying to make (in 
> response to Dr. Suasso's posting) is that a phenomenon which appears 
> to meet the general definition of "commonplace book" does exist in 
> Russia, but may not have a name or be recognised as a genre as it is 
> in Anglophone culture.  It also seems that when people talk about 
> commonplace books in the English or American context they generally 
> are referring to texts that are 200+ years old, so the history of the 
> genre is an important part of the definition.  In other words, if 
> something walks like a commonplace book and quacks like a commonplace 
> book but is not directly descended from the commonplace books of 
> Milton and Bacon, can it be a commonplace book?  And if so (to return 
> to Dr. Fisher's original question) what would the Russian name for it be?
>
> RJS
>
>
> Alina Israeli wrote:
>
>> High school girls often have a notebook of favorite poem (maybe it's  
>> a descendent of Al'bom of Pushkin's time). The habit wanes with age.  
>> However this seems to be different from "commonplace books" http:// 
>> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonplace
>>
>> On Sep 21, 2007, at 10:44 AM, Rebecca Jane Stanton wrote:
>>
>>> Actually I have at least one friend in Petersburg who does keep  
>>> what would, I think, be best described as a commonplace book --  
>>> into which she writes poems and other fragments of literature she's  
>>> read that strike a chord with her, effectively anthologizing them  
>>> for personal use.  She produces it quite often when I'm around and  
>>> the subject of poetry comes up.  I can't imagine she is alone in  
>>> this -- especially given the Russian affinity for books and  
>>> libraries, the historical scarcity of commercially produced books,  
>>> the tradition of samizdat, etc. -- but the question of whether it  
>>> exists as a recognized cultural phenomenon with a name, much less a  
>>> known history, in Russia is one I'm not in a position to answer.
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> RJS
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Alina Israeli
>> LFS, American University
>> 4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
>> Washington DC. 20016
>> (202) 885-2387    fax (202) 885-1076
>> aisrael at american.edu
>>
>>
>>
>>
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