Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

These papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, art works, printed materials, and a photograph, and relate chiefly to Russian artists and ballet personalities active in France in the 1920s and 1930s. Records of the Parisian World of Art (Mir Iskusstva) group, of which Shervashidze was the president, includes correspondence, documents, an exhibit program, clippings and a photograph of the artists involved. There is correspondence from Lev Bakst, Ivan Bilibin, Sergei Diagilev, Mikhail Larionov, Georgii Lukomskii, and Joan Mirʹo, and one letter each from Nikolai Roerich, and Nataliia Goncharova. There are also many letters from Shervashidze's family in the Soviet Union from the 1920s and 1930s. Illustrative materials by Shervashidze include programs, prints and water colors.

The collection includes copies of official communiques sent and received by the Russian Imperial Embassy in London for the period 1886-1890 and 1919-1922; copies of reports forwarded by E.V. Sablin to the Council of Ambassadors in Paris, for the period 1922-1937; correspondence grouped around specific subjects; "case files" containing letters from and on behalf of individual Russian emigres wishing to enter Great Britain or to adjust their immigrant status; and letters received by E.V. Sablin and his wife Nadezhda Ivanovna from various persons, together with carbon copies of their replies. The most voluminous correspondence is between E.V. Sablin and V.A. Maklakov, V. Dobuzhinskiĭ, Joseph P. Kennedy, Aleksandr F. Kerenskiĭ, Vladimir V. Nabokov, Fedor I. Shali︠a︡pin, Petr and Gleb Struve, Adri︠a︡na V. Trykova-Williams etc. The remainder of the collection consists of manuscripts of articles and speeches both by Sablin and by others; public statements issued by Sablin in mimeograph form; miscellaneous mimeo material; clippings from both the Russian emigre press and British and French newspapers of articles by and about Sablin; as well as miscellaneous clippings, books, booklets, leaflets, performance programs, newsletters, Russian language newspapers published in England, photographs and several drawings and watercolor sketches.

The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, documents, subject files, newspaper clippings, printed materials, photographs, and drawings. Most of the correspondence concerns Bilyi's activities as Ataman, and the journal "Kazak"; other correspondence is personal or relates to the activities of anti-Communist groups (such as the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations - ABN). The manuscripts include articles, reminiscences, drafts of appeals and proclamations, and speeches mostly concerning the Cossack movement, Cossack history, and the anti-Communist movement. The documents mostly concern KNOD and related organizations for the period ca.1955-1970; a few relate to the Cossacks in 1919-1945. The subject files contain newspaper clippings, printed materials, notes, and correspondence relating to KNOD, ABN, "Kazak", Ukrainian-Cossack relations, and the Vlasov Movement. The newspaper clippings are mostly from Russian and Ukrainian emigre publications. Printed materials include a set of "Kazak" and ephemera of KNOD, ABN, and similar organizations. There are a few photographs showing Bilyi in Cossack dress and also various Cossack emigre organization activities. The paintings and drawings include portraits of Bilyi and his wife, Tatiana Iurievna Bilyi, in national dress (his Cossack, hers Czech), other Cossack leaders, Cossack heraldry, and a map of "Cossackia."

Correspondence, manuscripts, financial records, subject files, printed material and watercolors of Volkonskai︠a︡. The bulk of the collection consists of letters to Volkonskai︠a︡, who resided most of her life in France. The letters are from friends and relatives and span the period from 1926 to 1959. There are also a small number of letters to and from Vladimir Luginin from the 1860's and 1890's. Among the manuscripts are the memoirs of both Marii︠a︡ Volkonskai︠a︡ and of Vladimir Luginin, as well as manuscript copies of the latter's scientific articles and research notes. The subject files contain materials on provincial parish-based self help societies at the turn of the century and on scientific problems concerning weights and measures, and the mercury thermometer. There are also watercolor sketches by Marii︠a︡ Volkonskai︠a︡.