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User:Nvss132/sandbox/John M. Constantinoff

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John M. Constantinoff, born Ivan Mikhailovitch Konstantinov, (April 10, 1881-May 6, 1962) was a Russian book dealer and collector.

Biography

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Working in Brussels in 1908[1]

In 1914, while employed as the second carpenter on the S.S. Kroonland, he participated in the rescue operation for the SS Volturno.[2] Constantinoff was on the first lifeboat sent at 8 p.m. to the ship, assisting in the Kroonland's rescue of 76 passengers.[3] He and the other sailors received a Congressional Silver Medal for their rescue efforts in a ceremony hosted by Commerce Secretary William C. Redfield.[4]

Constantinoff immigrated to the United States around 1918[5] In December 1918 he participated in the second convention of the anti-Bolshevik Federation of Russian Organizations in America, held at Beethoven Hall in New York. Constantinoff ran for chairman of the group with the support of the fraternal and religious organizations at the convention, against Konstantin Oberuchev, the candidate of the Federation's Mensheviks.[6] After both candidates failed to win a majority, the convention agreed for them to each serve as vice-chairman.[7] At the next day's meeting, he...

In New York he wrote for the Russian-language weekly newspaper Rodnaya Rech (Native Tongue) in 1918 and was one of the five directors of the Rodnaya Rech Publishing Corporation. [8] The paper was associated with the Progressive Party in its political orientation.[9] Constantinoff later wrote for the newspaper Syn Otvechsetva (Sons of the Fatherland), a continuation of Rodnaya Rech published from 1919 on.[10]

Despite his anti-Bolshevik activities in 1918, Constantinoff was a registered member of the left-wing American Labor Party in the 1948[11] and 1949[12] elections.

He began collecting and selling books at some point after 1918, with advertisements for his business appearing in Russian publications as early as 1925.[13] In a letter from 1935, Constantinoff wrote that he did not depend on his book business for money but had another source of employment.[1] He established a reputation as "an expert antiquarian bookseller" in New York[14].

The primary sources of his collections were book dealers such as Israel Perlstein and Eda Glaser as well as corporations in New York and Moscow like Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga. By the 1940s, he also advertised in The American Bookfinder and Serially American Book Prices Current for English-language books on theosophy, by authors such as Archibald Keightley and Helena Blavatsky, which were for his personal collection and not part of the Rare Russian Library.[15]

Constantinoff and his book business have become "well-established in the historiography of the Russian book trade in New York", along with Israel Perlstein and George Sabo.[16]

He moved to Los Angeles in August 1951, likely following his friend Violet Trevor who had moved there earlier.[1] In Los Angeles, he lived at and continued to operate his Rare Russian Library from 1824 2/6 Grace Ave., Hollywood.[17] After his death, he left his collection of books to Violet Trevor. Trevor's daughter...

Collection

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The Constantinoff Collection has been described as "a major collection of Russian occult literature that is particularly rich in materials from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries".[18] In addition to occult subjects, the Collection also has books from imperial libraries such as the libraries of...Books from imperial collections could be obtained for very little money following the Russian Revolution, allowing dealers like Constantinoff to acquire large numbers for an average price of $2.[19] Half of the collection consists of theosophical books and periodicals...

References

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  1. ^ a b c Zalewski, W. (2005). "Библиофил И.М. Константинов : состав и судьба его библиотеки". Актуальные проблемы теории и истории библиофильства: материалы XX Международной научной конференции. Изд-во Российской национальной библиотеки. p. 74.
  2. ^ "Presentation to Captain, Officers, and Crew S.S. Kroonland". The American Marine Engineer. 10 (1): 22. January 1915.
  3. ^ Congressional Record: Containing the proceedings and debates of the sixty-third Congress, second session. Vol. 51. 1914. p. 4787.
  4. ^ "Redfield Honors Kroonland's Men". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 9, 1915. p. 14.
  5. ^ Zalewski, Wojciech; Hollerbach, Evgeny (1998). Распространение русской печати в мире 1918-1939 гг. : справочник. Изд-во РНБ. p. 192. ISBN 9785719610207.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  6. ^ "Russians Seek End to Nation's Chaos". The New York Sun. December 14, 1918. p. 6.
  7. ^ "Anti-Bolshevik Society Makes Threat to Fight". New York Tribune. December 15, 1918. p. 11.
  8. ^ R.L. Polk & Co.'s 1918-19 Trow New York Copartnership and Corporation Directory, Boroughs of Manhattan and Bronx. R.L. Polk. 1918. p. 981.
  9. ^ N.W. Ayer & Son's American Newspaper Annual and Directory. N.W. Ayer & Son. 1919. p. 677.
  10. ^ "New Periodicals". Bulletin of the New York Public Library. 23: 558. 1919.
  11. ^ Transcript of the Enrollment Books: Borough of Manhattan. New York (N.Y.) Board of Elections. 1948. p. 34.
  12. ^ Transcript of the Enrollment Books, Borough of Manhattan. New York (N.Y.). Board of Elections. 1949. p. 26.
  13. ^ Юбилейный сборник к 20-лѣтію Общества "Наука", 1905-1925. Издано Русским обществом взаимопомощи "Наука". 1925.
  14. ^ Zalewski, Wojciech (1984). "Reference Materials in Russian-Soviet Area Studies 1982/1983". The Russian Review. 43 (2): 167–184. ISSN 0036-0341.
  15. ^ "Books". American Bookfinder. 6: 7. 1942.
  16. ^ Kasinec, Edward. "Russian Imperial and Elite Provenance Books". Solanus: 37.
  17. ^ Русский настольный календарь-справочник. Н.Н. Мартьянова. 1952. p. 115.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  18. ^ Rosenthal, Beatrice Glatzer, ed. (1997). The occult in Russian and Soviet culture. Cornell University Press. p. 422. ISBN 9780801483318.
  19. ^ Semyonova, Natalja; Iljine, Nicolas; Semenova, Natalʹja Jurʹevna; Gafifullin, Rifat, eds. (2013). Selling Russia's treasures (1st ed.). Paris: The M. T. Abraham Center for the Visual Arts Foundation. ISBN 9780789211545.
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