Collection of Manuscripts of the Archbishop Neil (Isakovich) (1838–1853) of Irkutsk, Nerchinsk and Yakut: the Results of the Study in the XIX–XXI Centuries

This article is devoted to one of the largest handwritten collection of Siberian manuscripts belonging to Archbishop Neil (Isakovich) of Irkutsk, Nerchinsk and Yakutsk (30–50s XIX century). The purpose of the work is to examine the history of its study in the context of the development of source science and the formation of archaeography in Russia during this period, the characteristics of the collection and the disclosure of source and historiographical the meanings of the collected documents and manuscripts. The collection of Archbishop Neil is kept in the book and archive archives of the city of Yaroslavl – the State Archive of the Yaroslavl Region (GAYAO) and the Yaroslavl Historical, Architectural and Art MuseumReserve (YAMZ). The stages of studying the collection by representatives of the cultural and scientific community of Russia are highlighted. The works of pre-revolutionary and Soviet scribes of Siberia depict the process of formation of the collection, the ways the archbishop works with documents and manuscripts, mentioned the areas of interest of the collector and the most interesting manuscripts of his collection. In the middle of the XX century, the famous Yaroslavl archeographer V. V. Lukyanov carried out a scientific description of the meeting of Archbishop Nile. It was included in the descriptions of the collections of the archives where it is currently located, and published. Finally, in 2019, Yaroslavl archivists, on the initiative of Irkutsk archeographers T. A. Kryuchkova and S. V. Melnikova, digitized part of the manuscript collection of Archbishop Nile stored in the GAYAO, which made it possible to present the manuscript collection of the archbishop to the scientific community of Siberia and not only Siberia. Electronic edition of the ”Treasures of the Archive of Archbishop Neil (N. F. Isakovich)”, supplemented by ”An overview of the documents of the personal collection of Archbishop Neil (N. F. Isakovich) from the State Archive of the Yaroslavl region”, testifies to the source value of the collection and individual striking monuments, allows you to clarify the composition of the manuscripts distributed in the region.

1. Veselovskii NI (1905) Preface. Materialy dlya istorii Rossiiskoi dukhovnoi missii v Pekine. Saint Petersburg, iss. 1. (In Russ.)

2. Gromov PV (1868) The beginning of Christianity in Irkutsk and Saint Innocent, the first bishop of Irkutsk. His ministry, administration, death, miracles and glorification. Irkutsk: tip. Okr. shtaba. (In Russ.)

3. Korelin I (1886) Materials for the biography of His Grace Mikhail I (Mitkevich), Bishop of Irkutsk and Nerchinsk. Pribavleniya k Irkutskim eparkhial'nym vedomostyam 45: 483–488; 47: 505–519; 48: 529–533; 49: 535–542. (In Russ.)

4. Korelin I (1880) An episode from the history of missionary activity in the second half of the last century among the Tungus, nomadic to the northeast of Nerchinsk. Pribavleniya k Irkutskim eparkhial'nym vedomostyam 1: 1–12; 2: 13–19. (In Russ.)

5. Kryuchkova TA (2019) Obzor dokumentov lichnogo sobraniya arkhiepiskopa Nila (N. F. Isakovicha) iz Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva Yaroslavskoi oblasti. Irkutsk, pp. 21–75. (In Russ.)

6. Kulikauskene NV (1996) Irkutsk city chronicles as historical and cultural monuments. Letopis' goroda Irkutska XVII–XIX vv. Irkutsk, pp. 5–14 (In Russ.)

7. Luk'yanov VV (1958) Brief description of the collection of manuscripts of the Yaroslavl Regional Museum of Local Lore. Yaroslavl. (In Russ.)

8. Luk'yanov VV (1957). Description of the collection of manuscripts of the State Archives of the Yaroslavl Region of the XIV–XX centuries. Yaroslavl: Kn. izd-vo. (In Russ.)

9. Manassein VS (2010) Book collections of Irkutsk in the 18th and the first half of the 19th century. Istoriya s bibliografiei. Irkutsk, pp. 177–209. (In Russ.)

10. Melnikova SV (2019) Archbishop Neil (N. F. Isakovich) as aspiritual writer and scientist. Essay on life and work. Obzor dokumentov lichnogo sobraniya arkhiepiskopa Nila (N. F. Isakovicha) iz Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva Yaroslavskoi oblasti. Irkutsk, pp. 8–20. (In Russ.)

11. Melnikova SV (2022) Neil (Isakovich Nikolaj Fedorovich). Pravoslavnye dukhovnye pisateli Vostochnoi Sibiri XVIII – nachala XX veka: biobibliogr. slov. Irkutsk, pp. 283–295. (In Russ.)

12. Neil (Isakovich Nikolaj Fedorovich) (1858) Buddhism, considered in relation to its followers living in Siberia. Saint Petersburg: tip. G. Trusova. (In Russ.)

13. From the authorscompilers. Obzor dokumentov lichnogo sobraniya arkhiepiskopa Nila (N. F. Isakovicha) iz Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva Yaroslavskoi oblasti. Irkutsk, pp. 4–7. (In Russ.)

14. Romanov NS (1913) Sibirian archives. Trudy Irkutskoi uchenoi arkhivnoi komissii. Irkutsk, iss. 1, pp. 205–240. (In Russ.)

15. Fursenko LI (comp.) (2015) Collections of book monuments (rare and valuable publications) in libraries, museums and archives of the Russian Federation: bibliogr. index (1917–2014). Moscow: Pashkov dom. (In Russ.)

16. Sulotskii A (1863) The place of imprisonment, death and burial of the former Rostov Metropolitan Arseny Matseevich, or The imaginary grave of Metropolitan Arseny Matseevich in Verkhneudinsk. Pribavleniya k Irkutskim eparkhial'nym vedomostyam 37: 589–597; 38: 610–615; 39: 629–634. (In Russ.)

17. Sulotskii A (1868) The imaginary grave of Metropolitan Arseny Matseevich in Verkhneudinsk. Yaroslavskie eparkhial'nye vedomosti 19: 155–160. (In Russ.)

18. Tupitsyna NN (1989) Through the pages of one archive. Eksponaty muzeya rasskazyvayut: nauch.-popul. ocherki. Yaroslavl, pp. 27–33. (In Russ.)].