Indivisual (Private) Collection at the University
Library
(1) The Vernadsky Collection
(Russian and East European Collection of G.Vernadsky)
Approx. 5,000 volumes [University Library]
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This collection consists of the former private library of the Russian historian
George Vernadsky (1887-1973), who went to America after the Russian Revolution
and became a professor at Yale University. It includes 3,886 titles published
in Western and East European languages. It is lamentable that all Russian-language
books were excluded from those purchased by the University; nevertheless
many basic volumes relating to Russia and all areas of East Europe can
be found in this collection. The University Library has published a classified
catalogue to this collection. (Russia and Eastern Europe a List of the
George Vernadsky Collection. 1982, 403 pp.).
(2) Boris Souvarin Collection on Russian Revolutionary
Movements
(Boris Souvarin Collection on Russian Revolutionary Movements.1980,164pp.)
8835 titles [University Library]
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This is the famous collection compiled by Boris Souvarin (1898-1992), who
sided with the Mensheviks after the Revolution and as a result was expelled
from the Communist Party, then went into exile and worked in Paris as a
journalist while continuing to collect materials relating to the revolutionary
movement in Russia. It contains materials from the end of the 19th century
to the early 20th century relating to the Russian revolutionary movement
which were printed both in Russia and abroad ; many are pamphlet-type publications
of less than 100 pages. Among the items are some which were printed in
London and Geneva and later brought into Russia surreptiously; because
these items were of a secretive character, many of them display pen names
or pseudonyms of their authors, and convey the revolutionary atmosphere
of the time. In the catalogue to this collection (Boris Souvarin Collection
on Russian Revolutionary Movements. 1980, 164 pp.), the pen names and pseudonyms
of known authors have been investigated as far as possible and are listed
by author, title, and year of publication. For reasons of preservation,
access to this collection is limited to use of a complete set of microfilm.
The University Library holds one set, and the Library of Institute of Social
Science, University of Tokyo holds the another set.
(3) The Lensen Collection
(George Lensen Collection on Russo-Japanese Relations)
Approx. 3,200 volumes (University Library transferred from the Slavic
Research Center)
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This is the former private library of Dr. George Lensen (1923-1979), renowned
authority on Russo-Japanese and Soviet-Japanese relations, and professor
at Florida State University. This collection consists of approximately
3,200 individual volumes (667 in Japanese or Chinese languages and 2,524
in English, German, French, or Russian), 130 reels of microfilm covering
450 titles (for which there is a card list), as well as many manuscripts.
The special characteristic of this collection is that in addition to materials
on Russo-Japanese, Soviet-Japanese relations and Soviet Far Eastern policy,
the large number of books have been carefully selected to cover the history,
politics, economics, international relations, and culture of all the surrounding
regions. This collection has been cataloged with a card file (classification,
author, and title). After the acquisition by the SRC, most part was transferred
to the University Library and located at the Northern Collention room,
but microfilms and other small part are in the SRC Library.
(4) The Epstein Collection
(Fritz T. Epstein Collection on the Foreign Relations
of the Soviet Union) Approx. 2,750 titles [University Library]
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This collection is the former private library of Prof. Epstein (1898-1979),
who left Germany in 1933 and went to the United States, where he taught
at various universities. He returned to Germany after the end of the Second
World War. This collection reflects the academic interests of Prof. Epstein
and contains books which mostly relate to Russian and Soviet history, with
an emphasis on the history of Soviet foreign relations, published in the
English, German, French, and Russian languages. Of the total number of
2,750 items, some 2,300 are in Western European languages, and 450 are
in Russian. Another area of emphasis in the collection is Soviet-German
relations. Although Russian-language books account for a mere 20 percent
of the total they have been specially selected, to the point of including
essential material relating to theDoukhovoul sect. The bibliographical
data for this collection has already been computerized.
(5) The Bernstein Collection
(Leon B. Bernstein Collection on Russian Revolutionary
Thought and Movements) Approx. 5,000 titles [University Library]
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Leon (Lev Borisovich) Bernstein (1877-1962) was a founding member of the
Bund (the General Union of Jewish Workers in Russia and Poland). This collection
can be divided into two main categories. The first part is comprised of
Russian-language materials pertaining to the Russian revolutionary movement
and to revolutionary thought, while the second part features French-language
research on the Soviet Union. The first part includes, in addition to materials
personally collected by Bernstein, books formerly belonging to exiled socialists
such as P. B. Aksel'rod and V.0. Kliuchevskii, and political pamphlets,
as well as a selection of material from the Bund, Zagranichnaja Liga of
RSDRP (Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) , the SR (the Socialist-Revolutionary)
Party archives, and the fascinating archives of the RSDRP Central Committee.
Included among these are items relating not only to specific revolutionary
organizations such as the Bolsheviks, the Mensheviks, and the SR, but also
periodicals and other materials from ]esser-known revolutionary groups.
What immediately attracts the researcher's attention are the volumes of
writings by the princip~ 19th century revolutionary thinkers and materials
of the Narodnaja Volia Moreover, essential publications about Russian history
and culture are also included in the collection. Among these volumes are
a few, such as "占鴿 蔡鴈韆驫蒹", "凵鉋辷ヘ褞瑣ⅱ魲泚魲泚頌魲桒髜籵", and "ネ" all previously hard to find in Japan,which
are here in their original editions. Also to be found are the writings
of revolutionary thinkers such as A.N. Radishchev, A.I. Gertsen, N.P. Ogarev,
M.A. Bakunin, S.G. Nechaev, Dekabristy, as well as works by representative
philosophers of Russia's 'Silver Age' such as V.S. Solov'ev, N.A. Berdiaev,
and M.A. Bulgakov.
(6) Collection of Russian Emigre Fiction.
566 titles [University Library]
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It has mainly been thought that modern Russian literature can be divided
into 'Soviet literature' and 'emigre' literature', but research into the
latter category of literature has long been hampered by an inadequacy of
material and the difficulties involved in locating and investigating available
copies of such works. This collection has been systematically assembled
over the course of many years, with the objective of eliminating such obstacles
to research. This collection brings together items from the former private
libraries of bibliophiles such as A.N. Benua, M.E. Zernov, P.N. Miliukov,
S, Ernst, L.A. Grinberg, A. Popov, A.P. Struve, N. Valiev, and of publishers,
authors, and literary critics; many books contain handwritten comments
made by their previous owners. Among these items can be seen literary works
which greatly influenced the development of Soviet literature, and even
some works which cannot be found in most Russian, European, and American
libraries.
(7) Henryk Gierszynski Collection
1,320 titles [University Library]
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