Stalin's Library

   Apart from occasionally writing about university or public libraries, I have sometimes considered  private ones. See, for example, the essays about the libraries of Mark Twain, Edward Gorey and, more recently Professor Macksey. In the post about old card catalogues, I mentioned that scholars had gone through the library belonging to Adam Smith to try to figure out why he approached economic matters the way he did.  

   The basic idea is that we might be able to learn what people thought by examining what they read. Someone has now looked into Stalin's study since it may be that, "Through an examination of these books," Mr. Roberts writes, "it is possible to build a composite, nuanced picture of the reading life of the twentieth century's most self-consciously intellectual dictator." In the case of Stalin, such an examination could be useful since he left little behind in terms of biographical material or personal papers and diaries. 

   One reviewer cautions that "a person's library can tell us only so much" and "Roberts warns against reading too much into Stalin's decision to underline a line attributed to Genghis Khan, "The death of the defeated is necessary for the peace of mind of the victors."

   Currently Putin is inflicting a lot of damage on Ukraine, just as Stalin did. Let's hope he didn't read the line by Khan. As well, we should remember that "to be well-read is in itself no guarantee of a humane approach to politics and life." 

   

   Stalin had a large library of approximately 25,000 books. "The central feature of a dacha built for Stalin outside Moscow in 1933-34 was a 30 sq m library with four large bookcases, each with shelves deep enough to take two rows of books. So large was Stalin’s collection that many books were stored in a separate building and brought to him as required." He even employed staff to classify them. His pometki, or what we call 'marginalia', are not unlike those we have seen in books from our university libraries.  "Using red, blue and green pencils, he scribbled expressions of disdain or disagreement: “ha ha”, “hee hee”, “gibberish”, “nonsense”, “rubbish”, “fool”, “bastards”, “scumbag”, “swine”, “liar”, “scoundrel” and “piss off”.

 Yale University Press has published Stalin's Library: A Dictator and His Books, by Geoffrey Roberts. Here is the accompanying promotional material: 

In this engaging life of the twentieth century’s most self-consciously learned dictator, Geoffrey Roberts explores the books Stalin read, how he read them, and what they taught him. Stalin firmly believed in the transformative potential of words and his voracious appetite for reading guided him throughout his years. A biography as well as an intellectual portrait, this book explores all aspects of Stalin’s tumultuous life and politics.
Stalin, an avid reader from an early age, amassed a surprisingly diverse personal collection of thousands of books, many of which he marked and annotated revealing his intimate thoughts, feelings, and beliefs. Based on his wide-ranging research in Russian archives, Roberts tells the story of the creation, fragmentation, and resurrection of Stalin’s personal library. As a true believer in communist ideology, Stalin was a fanatical idealist who hated his enemies—the bourgeoisie, kulaks, capitalists, imperialists, reactionaries, counter-revolutionaries, traitors—but detested their ideas even more.

Sources:
  "Stalin's Library by Geoffrey Roberts Review- The Marks of a Leader: Joseph Stalin Owned About 20,00 Books, Many With Jottings in the Margin: Does His Library Hold the Key to His Character?", Amelia Gentleman, The Guardian, Feb. 16, 2022. The image above is from this article.
   "Stalin's Library," by Geoffrey Roberts - Stacks of Power," Tony Barber, Financial Times, Jan. 31, 2022.
   "Stalin the Intellectual: The Dictator Cast in a New Light," Nigel Jones, The Spectator, Feb. 5, 2022.