Karpov S.P. Chivalric orders of Europe: exhibition catalogue / Ed. by L. M. Gavrilova. Moscow: State historical-cultural museum-reserve “Moscow Kremlin”, 2015. 432 pp. In Russian.

Abstract: The reviewed publication is a work of significant scientific value. The author of the review presents the general information pertaining to the exhibition itself, as well as to its catalogue, and notes that at the heart of the exhibition lies the collection of Moscow university professor A. L. Khazin, which is one of the foremost private collections of the highest West-European state awards in the world. The review analyses the content of the catalogue, including the collector’s foreword to the publication and the introduction written by L. M. Gavrilova, the curator of the exhibition and of the Moscow Kremlin museum collections. A major part of the review is dedicated to the analysis of the informational value of the catalogue and demonstrates on a series of examples the value of phaleristics in elucidating various historical facts. The reviewer outlines the most important objects of the exhibition, among which are the so-called joint stars of several orders, order chains, and other rarities. The reviewer highlights the elaborated system of presenting the exhibits in the catalogue, set according to phaleristic categories and historical significance of the orders. Additionally, the reviewer points out the importance of the appendixes to the catalogue, which contain reference information on European award systems. The reviewer corrects some inexactitudes – unavoidable, as he notes, in the compilation of such publications.

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