BOOKS FROM THE SERGE LIFAR’S COLLECTION IN THE FUND OF THE VERNADSKY NATIONAL LIBRARY OF UKRAINE

The publication presents information about rarities from the collection of prominent Ukrainian and French artist, collector and bibliophile Serge Lifar (1905–1986) in the fund of the Department of early printed and rare books of the Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (VNLU). Dancer, choreographer, artist S. Lifar has been collecting personal documents, posters, cultural objects, books, various souvenirs, etc. for decades. He wanted to donate items from his personal collection as a gift to his hometown of Kyiv. In the 1990s and 2000s, parts of his collections and personal belongings were transferred to several Kyiv institutions. Rarities from his book collection came to the VNLU as part of the collection of Baron Eduard Falz-Fein, who bought part of his library at auction in Monte Carlo and donated it to the VNLU in 1981. S. Lifar’s books in the collection of E. Falz-Fein are singled out with the help of his proprietary marks: signets, paper stickers, autographs, gift inscriptions, etc. They date from the 17th – early 20th c. Among them predominate Russian-language editions of the 18th‑19th c. Widely represented editions of works by Russian and Ukrainian writers: O. Pushkin, V. Zhukovsky, A. Fet, M. Lermontov, I. Krylov, G. Derzhavin, M. Gogol, P. Kulish, and others. S. Lifar also collected various artistic lithographic albums, large-format editions with portraits, drawings, maps, etc. Essays on Russian imperial history, geography, descriptions of places, and collections of decrees are also contained in the collection. The church theme is represented by several copies of old prints in different languages and fonts. Cyrillic liturgical editions are also available in the collection. Several editions of the Bible in Old Slavonic and Dutch occupy a proper place in the collection. The publication presents the features of individual copies of the collection. It is concluded that the book collection of S. Lifar is able to inform the inquisitive reader about new facets of the personality of its former owner. Scattered across various institutions and even countries, it is still waiting for its researchers. The information is supplemented by a list with a brief descriptions and current shelf numbers.