The Petrograd Philosophical Society and the “Academia” Publishing House: Materials from A.A. Krolenko’s Archival Fond in the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia
| 08 February 2022
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Archival funds and collections
УДК 94(47)+061.22
DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2020-1-293-305
Elena F. Sinelnikova, Vladimir S. Sobolev,
St. Petersburg Branch of the S.I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
The Petrograd Philosophical Society and the “Academia” Publishing House: Materials from A.A. Krolenko’s Archival Fond in the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia
Abstract
Drawing on documentary sources from the personal provenance archival fond of the famous publisher and bibliologist A.A. Krolenko (Manuscripts Department of the National Library of Russia) the article clarifies the role of the Petrograd Philosophical Society in the creation and initial activities of the famous publishing house “Academia.” It thus enables to redefine some processes of the Russian scientific and cultural life in the first years of Soviet power. The article draws on the documentary complex of the personal fond of A.A. Kolenko in order to show some important forms, methods, and trends of the publishing activities of the Petrograd Philosophical Society in the early 1920s. Interesting information on the topic is being introduced into the scientific circulation for the first time: concerning the creation of the publishing house, organizing of the bookstore, preparing translations of Plato's works, founding the “Mysl” magazine, etc. The chronological scope of the article is limited to the period of 1921–1923, since it was during these years that the publishing house “Academia” operated within the frameworks of the Petrograd Philosophical Society and under its auspices. The article draws on diverse in their composition and content documents from the A.A. Kolenko’s fond: records management documents, reports, diary entries, photos, memories, letters, etc. Taken together, these archival sources testify to the most serious work done by the Petrograd Philosophical Society to organize the publishing house and ensure its work under the difficult conditions of the initial period of the New Economic Policy. The identified archival documents form a single complex on the history of the remarkable publishing house “Academia,” at the origins of which stood the Petrograd Philosophical Society.
Keywords
Historical sources, Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia (OR RNB), Petrograd Philosophical Society, publishing house “Academia,” publishing activities, New Economic Policy (NEP), book trade, book publishing, “Mysl’” magazine, history of science.
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References
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About the authors
Sinelnikova Elena Fedorovna, PhD in History, St. Petersburg Branch of S. I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of Russian Academy of Sciences, academic secretary, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, +7–921–383–70–64, sinelnikova– This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Sobolev Vladimir Semenovich, PhD in History, St. Petersburg Branch of S. I. Vavilov Institute for the History of Science and Technology of Russian Academy of Sciences, Division of History of the Academy of Sciences and Its Research Institutions, head of the division, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, +7-921-914-30-07, vlad– This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Grant information
This article has been prepared with financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (science project no. 17–33–00003).
Submitted 22.05.2019, published (for citation):
SINELNIKOVA, E. F., SOBOLEV, V. S. Petrogradskoe filosofskoe obshchestvo i izdatel'stvo «Academia». Po materialam arkhivnogo fonda A. A. Krolenko v otdele rukopisei Rossiiskoi natsional'noi biblioteki [The Petrograd Philosophical Society and the “Academia” Publishing House: Materials from A.A. Krolenko’s Archival Fond in the Manuscript Department of the National Library of Russia. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2020, no. 1, pp. 293-305. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2020-1-293-305