Featured Romanov bookplate?

I bought a book recently and it is shipping at the moment.
In this book (Comedies of Plautus, Plantin - Antwerp, 1566) a Cyrillic bookplate is added.

The seller of the books states this is a bookplate of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, the son of Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

What does it say? Can someone read Russian?



I didn't found much information on the internet. This is an auction lot with the same bookplate (translated via Google Translate).


Although I did not buy the book because of the bookplate, it would have a great provenance if this book was in a royal library one time of it's life!

What do you think? Does it add any historical or monetary value to this book?

The book itself.

 

@Aznathalie , @IvaPan .

 

Великий Князь Владимир Александрович.
Bookplate of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, Bookplate

In a round frame there is an inscription in script: “Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich.” The first letters of the inscription (ВКВА), crossing the frame and joining in the center, form a cross

Vladimir Alexandrovich, Grand Duke, 1847-1909

 

Thank you!

 

Coincidentally I was not too long ago looking at books owned by the Russian Czar and family . I was surprised at how pedestrian the book plates were. I guess I expected gilded and embossed book plates for the Czar . My point was though this doesnt look like much,it very well could be . They were widely educated and well read .Heres the site.Its the 2nd page in. Warning,you could get lost in their for hours looking at all the gorgeous things !
https://romanovrussia.com/category/antiques/page/2/

 

Thank you, I saw that website as well. A while ago they sold a bunch of books from the Romanov’s. It looks they put more effords in their bindings as my book has it’s original vellum binding.

https://romanovrussia.com/antique/imperialbookscol/

 

Congratulations, Aznathalie!

Just to mention that I have some difficulties with reading the old Cyrillic script in spite of the fact that my mother tongue is written in modern Cyrillic and my country has given the Cyrillic alphabet to the other countries, including Russia. Modern Cyrillic is quite modified.

Contrary to the common Western belief, Russia is not the country where Cyrillic was invented and first applied, it is not old enough as a country for this purpose.

 

Not everyone knows our dear Iva, so to clarify what she means: Cyrillic was developed in the Preslav Literary School at the time of the First Bulgarian Empire, so 9th century Bulgaria.

 

Thank you, Any, for the clarification! Very well said and indeed historically correct.

I am not some keen nationalist or patriot but I am fed up with Russian imperialism, its constant lies and efforts to diminish other nations' achievements, and steal whatever they can from their history. It happens with Ukraine now, although Ukraine is an older country than Russia and it can be said that historically Russia (Moscow Principality- Московское княжество) was established as a periphery of Ukraine (Kiev Rus) rater than the opposite (which Russian propagandists constantly claim).

B.t.w., I remember a Flemish bookstore keeper in Brussels who asked me where I am from and after I answered, he exclaimed "Oh, yes, the oldest country in Europe!" Which is also historically true, Bulgaria is the oldest country in Europe with the same name and in (almost) the same geographical location.

 

Absolutely!

Certainly one of the oldest, and older than Russia. But San Marino and France are a bit older.
San Marino was founded as an independent state in 301 (had to look the exact date up), as a safehaven for Christians who were persecuted by the Roman emperor of the time. It is still in exactly the same location, and it is the oldest still existing constitutional republic in the world.
Granted, San Marino is small, but it is a country.
France is not that small. It was founded in 486.

 

Any, San Marino has escaped my attention but definitely it is a state so let it be the oldest.
About France, I am not that sage in history but wikipedia puts the establishment of France as a country with the same name and location in 843. The earlier Kingdom of Francia is apparently considered as Carolingian Empire, successor of the Roman Empire, i.e. a different country than France.

"In the Early Middle Ages, the Germanic Franks formed the Kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia evolving into the Kingdom of France."

Anyway, I know that Wikipedia is not that much of an authority and also that history is not a precise science and is subject to interpretations, so I am not going to argue about France, let it be older than Bulgaria, no problem

Actually, the lands where the Bulgarian Kingdom was established, were part of the Byzantine Empire which on its turn was a successor of the Roman Empire - Eastern Roman Empire. Given that fact, it can be said that Bulgaria is part of the Byzantine cultural space.

 

That happens when your're small, even if you're a state.

I agree, France is debatable. According to some sources it is nr #2, others nr #3, after Bulgaria.