Anna Mikhailovna Kharitonova,
Saint Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Book Collection of the Diplomat P.K. Rudanovsky in the Library of St. Petersburg State University
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-3-16
The article analyzes the book collection of the diplomat Petr Konstantinovich Rudanovsky (1871–1904), which was transferred to the library of St. Petersburg University. The article provides new data related to the identity of the diplomat. The scientific novelty of the study is represented by new facts concerning the biography of P.K. Rudanovsky, as well as use of the previously unpublished archival materials, e.g., the case of his inheritance is being scrutinized for the first time in the scientific literature. This study has been pending due to the growing interest of historians towards the book collections stored in the Oriental Department of the Academic Library at St. Petersburg State University, as well as lives of their collectors. The source base of this study includes the documents of the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire (Moscow), the State Archive of the Russian Federation (Moscow), the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg), the Archive State Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg), as well as inventory books of the Oriental Department of the St. Petersburg State University Library. The study uses the hermeneutic approach with focus on the interpretation of archival documents of personal origin, the book collection and official documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The analysis of the archives related to the transfer of P.K. Rudanovsky’s heritage made it possible to clarify some facts concerning his brothers. The collection of books, transferred to the academic library of the University, has more than fifty books, which were identified according to the presence of an ex-libris or based on an entry record in the inventory book. The main bulk of the collection are educational books (textbooks, dictionaries); translations of Chinese historical works; geographical or historical works about China in Russian, English, German, French and Chinese.
Publishing: 28/06/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 01/03/2023
How to cite: Kharitonova A.M. The Book Collection of the Diplomat P.K. Rudanovsky in the Library of St. Petersburg State University // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 3 (29), pp. 189–198. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-3-16.pdf]
The reported study was funded by RFBR and CASS, project No. 21-59-93001.
Links: Issue 3 2023
Keywords: P.K. Rudanovsky; book collection; Russian-Chinese relations; Ministry of foreign affairs