Printing the Bible in the Reign of Alexander I: Toward a Reinterpretation of the Imperial Russian Bible Society

Abstract

One of the most remarkable phenomena of Alexander I’s Russia was the rise and fall of the imperially chartered Russian Bible Society. Launched in Petersburg in late 1812 under the inspiration of John Paterson of the British and Foreign Bible Society (BFBS), the Imperial Russian Bible Society quickly mushroomed with the support of its President Aleksandr Golitsyn and its Tsar-protector Alexander into the most powerful and effective independent voluntary association of the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Even at their greatest strength, the Russian freemasonic societies never approached the levels of energy and support generated by the Russian Bible Society. With its local auxiliaries throughout the Empire, the Society translated, printed and distributed Holy Scripture in over 40 languages. The astronomical circulation runs of Bible Society publications knew no precedent in the previous history of Russian printing. By the time of the Society’s closure in 1826, the landmark project to render the Bible in modern Russian had yielded a New Testament and Psalter in Russian translation, with circulation in several printings amounting to several hundred thousand copies. The translation into Russian of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible had also been completed through the eighth book (Ruth).²

Research for this paper was made possible by grants from the International Research and Exchanges Board (USA) and the Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Summer Research Awards Program.