Manuscripts. Breif Summary

Collection Holder:

Manuscripts Department

Time Span:

- Greek manuscripts – from the 3d to 19th centuries;
- Slavonic and Old Russian handwritten books – from the 11th to 20th centuries;
- Early Russian deeds – from the 13d to 19th centuries;
- Western manuscripts – from the 5th to 20th centuries;
- archival documents – from the 18th to 21nd centuries;
- Oriental manuscripts – from the 10th century BC to 20th century AD.

Size:

440 761 items (for 01.01.2022):
Including:
- over 30 thousand Greek, Slavonic and Old Russian books;
- about 300 thousand Russian documents;
- about 70 thousand Western documents;
- about 30 thousand Oriental documents.

Range:

The Manuscripts Department is one of the world's largest repository of manuscripts and autograph documents, which houses priceless treasures of the world's history and culture. The manuscripts held by the National Library of Russia comprise of 1500 private archives and collections that today number more than 430 000 valuable items for all periods and countries. The chronological span of the collections is from the 10th century before Christ (papyri from Ancient Egypt) to the present day. The holdings contain Greek, Slavic, West European and Oriental manuscripts, rich handwritten graphic material, maps, music, photographs.
 

Manuscript Collections

Reading Rooms:

Manuscrips Room (1/3, Ostrovsky Square)

Online Catalogues
(in Russian):

Search for Manuscripts
Search for Manuscript Collections
For information on the availability of manuscripts, send an inquiry through e-mail manuscripts@nlr.ru.

Shelf Marks:

The manuscripts are held at the NLR shelfmarks: Ф. № 9 Айвазовский ед. хр. 5; ОСРК Q.I.1007; Кир.-Бел. 38/163; Дорн № 12; Lat.Q.v.I.18 (F. no.9 Aivazovsky item 5; OSRK Q.I.1007; Kir.-Bel. 38/163; Dorn no.12; Lat.Q.v.I.18)

Full-text resources:

Digital Manuscripts Library (in Russian)
Manuscript Landmarks (in Russian)
Russian Autographs from the NLR Collections (in Russian)
Online Exhibitions and Projects

Other holdings containing publications of the same type:

Handwritten documents are also kept in personal collections and the Plekhanov House Collection.