Guide to the Collection [antikvár]

FOREWORD I am pleased to present this guide to the archival and manuscript collections in the Hoover Institution relating to the history of imperial Russia and the Russian emigrations since 1850 and to the early Soviet period. It is another in the series of bibliographic studies published to aid scholars using the world-renowned holdings of the Hoover Institution. The Hoover Institution Archives include more than 4,000 collections, 676 of which are described in this guide. The collection of Russian materials dates from the earliest years of the Hoover Institution, beginning while the Civil War was still raging in Soviet Russia. In the intervening years, the processing and expansion of the Russian collections have consistently been assigned high priority. Today, experts throughout the world consider these collections to have few equals outside the Soviet Union. Publication of the guide to these materials reflects the Hoover Institution's commitment to publicizing its holdings and making them more accessible for scholarly research. This guide is dedicated to Mrs. Lascelle de Basily. Her many gifts to the Hoover Institution over the years have included, among others, the papers, books, and art collection of her late husband, Nicholas de Basily, a diplomat and statesman who left Russia after the revolution of 1917. The Hoover Institution's Nicholas de Basily Room, which houses the collection's art objects, also is a result of Mrs. de Basily's generosity. My colleagues and I, as well as the scholarly community, are indebted to her for this continuing and farsighted support for the collection and preservation programs of the Hoover Institution Library and Archives. W. Glenn Campbell, Director Hoover Institution