Encyclopedia Literary Museums of Russia and the Pushkin House Literary Museum

Abstract

The article notes the importance of creating the Encyclopedia “Literary Museums of Russia” for writing the history of the phenomenon as a whole and each museum separately. The dictionary proposed by the compilers is the result of a certain inventory of the Literary Museum. Work on the articles of the Encyclopedia made it possible to systematize and update the bibliography, including the latest research and publications. The creation of the encyclopedia facilitated recalling and resurrecting the forgotten names of their creators, as well as museums that have merged with others or have been lost. The Pushkin House Literary Museum includes the collections of the Pushkin Museum at the Imperial Alexander Lyceum, the Lermontov Museum at the Nicholas Cavalry School, the Tolstoy Museum in St. Petersburg, the Pushkin Museum of A. F. Onegin (Otto) in Paris, the Museum of Russian Writers in St. Petersburg created by F. F. Fiedler. The Pushkin House is part of the system of institutions of the Academy of Sciences and its museum has been departmental throughout history, which has determined its complex history. The article recounts the work on articles for the encyclopedia as well as specifics and history of the Literary Museum of the Pushkin House, which sought to create “a special literary pantheon where the relics of Russian writers of the XIX century would be collected and stored.” The vastness of the task determined the structure of its collection and the theme of the exhibition — the first museum of the history of Russian literature. This, in turn, determined the content of 13 articles for the encyclopedia. The exhibition was the first unique experience of illustrating the literary process in a single space. The article highlights the role of the Pushkin House in the formation of the system of literary museums in Russia.