The university library’s collections include numerous rare books and unique historical publications that often inspire admiration and surprise. These treasures include reference books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, and industrial catalogs dating from the 19th century through the first half of the 20th century.
Modern life is unimaginable without the internet, social media, specialized websites, digital platforms, and other electronic resources. Information is available almost instantly with a single tap on a mobile phone screen. All you need is an internet connection and a charged device. For centuries, however, books were the primary source of knowledge—first handwritten, then printed. For convenience, books were gathered in one place: the library. Libraries came in all shapes and sizes: private and public, university and children’s, general and specialized. As the volume of accumulated knowledge grew, finding specific information became increasingly difficult. Humanity began searching for a fast and effective way to organize knowledge. This is how reference publications came into being.
One of the best-known types of reference publications is the encyclopedia. Perhaps the most famous encyclopedia emerged in France in the second half of the 18th century. It was titled Encyclopédie, ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers (Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts) and was published between 1751 and 1772. The project was organized and edited by two distinguished French scholars, Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d’Alembert. The first edition comprised 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of illustrations. Its contributors included prominent French Enlightenment thinkers, among them Voltaire. Copies of this encyclopedia are held in libraries around the world, including the library of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. The encyclopedia can also be explored online, for example, through the University of Michigan Library website.
Following the French encyclopedia, which became a model for similar publications, comparable works began to appear in Britain, Germany, and other countries. These were all universal encyclopedias, bringing together the latest scientific knowledge of their time across a wide range of fields, including mathematics, physics, chemistry, philosophy, and the arts.
Universal encyclopedias are also part of the Rare and Valuable Publications Collection at the Scientific and Technical Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. One example is Meyers Konversations-Lexikon, an encyclopedic dictionary published by the Bibliographisches Institut, founded by Joseph Meyer, a German journalist and publisher. The work is considered one of the most comprehensive encyclopedias of the 19th century. It featured numerous illustrations, maps, and diagrams. The library holds individual volumes from its fifth and sixth editions.
Another universal reference work is the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. It was originally conceived as a Russian translation of Meyer’s encyclopedia. However, the dictionary was gradually expanded and enriched with a wealth of additional material, including content on science and technology. Published between 1890 and 1904, it appeared in two formats: a 41-volume edition and an 82-part edition. A three-volume Small Encyclopedic Dictionary was published alongside it. Our library holds the second edition of this work, published between 1907 and 1909.
The Rare and Valuable Publications Collection also includes the first edition of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, published between 1926 and 1947. Today, work is underway in Ukraine on the Great Ukrainian Encyclopedia; as of 2022, three volumes had been published.
In addition to universal encyclopedias, there are specialized encyclopedias devoted to particular fields. They began to appear in large numbers in the early 19th century, a period marked by the scientific and technological revolution and rapid advances across the sciences and engineering. Our library’s collection contains a substantial number of these specialized reference works.
One of the oldest publications in the collection is the Technological Dictionary, or New Universal Dictionary of Arts and Crafts, as well as Industrial and Commercial Economy. Published by the Society of Scholars and Artists between 1822 and 1835, it comprises 22 volumes. Our library holds 14 volumes, numbered from the first to the fifteenth, with Volume 4 missing. The dictionary brings together the scientific and technical knowledge available at the beginning of the 19th century, making it, in essence, a technical encyclopedia.
Another type of reference book typical of the period was the practical handbook designed for engineers, designers, builders, students, and craftspeople working in various fields. One example is The Mechanic’s Pocket Dictionary by Scottish engineer William Greer. It contains specialized technical terminology, mathematical tables and rules, and formulas essential for practical work. The first edition was published in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1837, while our library holds the twelfth edition.
An interesting example is the American publication Appleton’s Dictionary of Machines, Mechanics, Engine-Work, and Engineering, printed in New York in 1857. Our library holds only one volume of this two-volume work, which has become a bibliographic rarity and a unique landmark of 19th-century technical literature. It contains detailed descriptions of machine tools, steam engines, and bridges, along with detailed drawings of the mechanisms used at the time. Daniel Appleton’s publishing house was one of the largest and most influential American publishers of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another notable work is Technological Lexicon for Craftsmen and Industrialists, a two-volume German reference book published by the Bibliographisches Institut in Leipzig in 1883. The first volume covers chemical technology, while the second focuses on mechanical technology and mechanical engineering. As its title indicates, the book was intended as a practical reference for professionals. Today, it too is a bibliographic rarity.
The authors were Otto Dammer, a German chemist known for systematizing chemical knowledge and writing other subject-specific encyclopedias; Egbert von Hoyer, a German mechanical engineer, professor at Riga Polytechnic Institute, and director of the Munich Technical University; and Georg Brehler, a German mechanical engineer specializing in machine tools and machine components.
In addition to practical handbooks and dictionaries, the mid-19th century saw the publication of comprehensive encyclopedias devoted to specific branches of technical knowledge. Many of these works were published in Germany, where industrial technologies were advancing rapidly, higher engineering education was expanding, and scientific research was growing both in quantity and in quality.
The General Encyclopedia of Physics, edited by Gustav Karsten and published in Leipzig between 1856 and 1869, was the first major work to systematically organize the field of physics in the 19th century. It comprised 21 volumes, each containing a monograph on a specific subject written by a prominent scientist, including Hermann von Helmholtz.
Our library holds several works from this series. Volume 15 is A Treatise on Magnetism by Johann von Lamont (1867), while Volume 20 is A Treatise on Applied Electrical Engineering by Karl Kuhn (1866). The author, a professor at the University of Munich, brought together the electrical engineering knowledge available at the time, covering topics ranging from lightning rods to the earliest electric telegraphs.
Another renowned and now classic work is the Chemical Encyclopedia by French chemist Edmond Frémy, published in Paris between 1882 and 1894. The encyclopedia comprises 10 volumes, issued in more than 90 separate installments. Prominent scientists and professors at the École Polytechnique in Paris contributed articles to the publication. Our library holds two installments from Volume 10.
Another outstanding and highly popular work in the 19th century was A Treatise on Hydraulic Engineering by German engineer and physicist Gotthilf Hagen. Encyclopedic in scope, it served for many decades as a leading textbook and reference work for generations of civil engineers across Europe and became an essential resource for the design and construction of waterways and maritime structures. The work consists of eight volumes covering such subjects as Sources, Streams and Rivers, and Marine Structures. The book’s particular value lies in the way its author, an eminent practicing engineer, combined mathematical methods and the laws of hydrodynamics with his own invaluable experience accumulated over many years. Today, copies of this work, published between the 1840s and the 1880s, are rare and have considerable antiquarian value. Digital copies are available on the websites of many libraries. The library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute holds 10 copies from the first three volumes of the third edition, published between 1869 and 1881.
Another type of reference publication is the technical terminology dictionary. One example is the four-volume Russian–German–French–English Parallel Dictionary of Railway Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Construction, and Related Fields, published in 1874 in Vilna (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania). The author was Ilya Iosifovich Somov, a teacher of technical drawing, mechanics, and architecture at the Vilna Chemical and Technical School. The dictionary was created in response to an urgent practical need: most technical literature and documentation for construction and railway projects at the time came from England, Germany, or France.
One of the library’s valuable and unique holdings is the 2019 reprint of the Dictionary of Technical Terminology by I. M. Sheludko and T. F. Sadovskyi. The original edition was first published in 1928. The dictionary’s history is directly connected with Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, as both authors worked there. Ivan Mykhailovych Sheludko, an electrical engineer, worked at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and also served at the Institute of the Ukrainian Scientific Language of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. In the early 1930s, he worked in the dictionary department of the Academy’s Institute of Linguistics. Todosii Sadovskyi was also a professor at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and specialized in technical terminology. The original 1928 edition of the dictionary is also held in our library.
In 2008, the series From the Dictionary Heritage featured a reproduction of the first edition (1923) of Dictionary of Geological Terminology by Pavlo Tutkovskyi, a renowned Ukrainian geologist and geographer and a full member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. Incidentally, our library still preserves several books bearing the dedication inscription: “To the Library of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.”
A substantial part of the library’s reference collection consists of Russian-language books, both translations and original works. It is important to remember that instruction in the Russian Empire was conducted exclusively in Russian, which is why most publications in the older part of the collection were issued in that language. Examples include Reference Book for Engineers, Mechanics, Technicians, and Builders (second edition, 1890) by P. I. Maltsov; The Mechanic-Builder’s Popular Companion: A Guide for Foremen, Fitters, Engine Drivers, and Skilled Workers (1890) by mining engineer I. F. Felkner; and Reference Book for Valuing Machinery in Factories, Mills, and Various Industrial Establishments (1902) by mechanical engineer S. Malinovsky. The collection also includes a Russian translation from German of Steam Engines — Dampfmaschinen: A Reference Book for Steam Engine Design and a Practical Guide to Calculating Steam Engines and Their Components (1904) by Hermann Haeder, along with many other publications.
An interesting publication is Encyclopedia of Technical Industries: Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, and Technology Explained for Every Practitioner. Its author, Miel (unfortunately, no further biographical information about him has been found), presents the fundamentals of natural and technical sciences in a simple, accessible manner, explaining how this knowledge is applied in crafts, agriculture, construction, and other fields. The book was published in 1872.
The library also holds Volume 5 of the extensive, ten-volume work Industry and Technology: An Encyclopedia of Industrial Knowledge, translated from German and published in 1901. This volume is devoted to mining and metallurgy. The encyclopedia documents the history and achievements of science across various disciplines, as well as the technologies, materials, and manufacturing processes of the early 20th century.
A significant part of the collection consists of industrial catalogs, which can also be classified as reference publications. One example is Illustrated Catalog, 1901 Edition: Steam Boilers, Boiler Fittings, and Welded Products, published by the Society of the South Russian Engineering Works in Kyiv. The catalog illustrates the factory’s manufacturing capabilities at the turn of the 20th century, during a period of rapid economic and industrial growth. Today, this book is a valuable antique publication.
The next publication is a German catalog compiled by Friedrich Gebauer, a prominent German manufacturer of textiles and specialized machinery. Titled Catalog of Machinery for Bleaching, Dyeing, Printing, and Finishing: Engineering Works for the Textile Industry, it was published in 1896.
In addition to technical reference books and encyclopedias, the library preserves valuable publications on the history of geography, art, and other fields. One example is the Russian translation of The Earth and Its Inhabitants: Universal Geography by Élisée Reclus, a French geographer, historian, and traveler. His work is still regarded as one of the most extensive and comprehensive geographical publications ever produced. This encyclopedic series comprises 19 volumes, published between 1873 and 1893. Reclus created a sweeping portrait of human history across geographical space. Alongside geographical facts, he explored the everyday lives, customs, traditions, and cultures of different peoples, highlighting the influence of the natural environment on their development. The encyclopedia also includes a detailed account of Ukraine, prepared with the assistance of his longtime friend, the Ukrainian historian Mykhailo Drahomanov.
A unique German publication, The Nineteenth Century in Words and Pictures: Political and Cultural History, consists of four volumes published between 1898 and 1900. Its author was Hans Kraemer, a German scholar and journalist. The work provides a detailed chronicle of the 19th century, covering political, scientific, and cultural events, as well as everyday life during this historical period. The book is particularly valuable for its numerous illustrations, portraits of historical figures, reproductions of paintings by renowned artists, facsimiles of archival documents, engravings, and other visual materials. The text is printed in Gothic type, which few people today can readily read, although its use was standard practice in Germany at the time.
A significant portion of the reference books, encyclopedias, and dictionaries in the Rare and Valuable Publications Collection consists of works published after the October Revolution of 1917. From the 1920s onward, a new chapter began in the history of science and technology in Ukraine. These publications offer a vivid insight into this complex and, at times, tragic period.
Two publications mentioned earlier are technical terminology dictionaries, originally published in 1923 and 1928, along with their modern reprints. The collection also includes the first Soviet Technical Encyclopedia, a 26-volume work published between 1927 and 1934. It was accompanied by a ten-volume Dictionary of Physical, Chemical, and Technological Quantities and a subject index. The editorial committee included numerous specialists from different fields of technical knowledge, many of whom later met tragic fates. Their names were erased from library catalogs, and their books were destroyed or transferred to restricted-access collections. The encyclopedia preserved the latest scientific achievements and technological advances of its time and became an essential reference work for a broad community of engineers and technical specialists across the country.
A large number of reference books were published in Ukrainian during the 1920s and 1930s. They were essential for educating and supporting the country’s emerging technical community. Among these publications is Electrical Engineering: A Supplementary Handbook for Students at Higher Technical Schools, published in Odesa in 1928. Its author, V. M. Khrushchov, was a professor at Kharkiv Technological Institute and a prominent Ukrainian scholar in electrical engineering. Other examples include Tool Reference Guide: Description, Sources of Supply, and Prices of Tools Manufactured at USSR Factories (Kyiv, 1929); Brickmaking: A Popular Guide to the Production of Building, Paving, Facing, and Hollow Bricks, Roof Tiles, and Sewer and Drainage Pipes by A. A. Zakharov (Kharkiv, 1930); Electrical Wiring: A Guide for Electricians by V. A. Aleksandrov (Kharkiv, 1932); and Handbook for Production Rate Setters by V. F. Bychenko (Kharkiv, 1933). The collection also includes The Metalworker’s Handbook (1934), The Electrical Engineer’s Handbook (1936), Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language by Borys Hrinchenko, Volume 1 (1937), Radio Equipment Handbook by P. L. Danylevych (Kharkiv, 1937), and Shortwave Radio Operator’s Handbook by B. K. Aaronov (Kharkiv, 1938).
The extensive collection of reference publications spanning a wide range of types, formats, subject areas, and practical applications clearly demonstrates how essential such literature was to providing future engineers with a high-quality and effective education. The presence of numerous English-, French-, and German-language publications is also noteworthy, suggesting that students had a good command of several major European languages.
In the library’s electronic catalog, under the “Rare Publications” section, a dedicated thematic collection titled Reference Publications from the 18th to the First Half of the 20th Century has been created. It comprises approximately 200 titles. The physical copies are held in the Rare and Valuable Publications Collection, Room 3.5, on the third floor of the Scientific and Technical Library of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Everyone is welcome to visit the exhibition, ask the librarians questions, and leaf through the yellowed pages of these unique and remarkable books.