Books and booklets

The oldest manuscript dates from the 15th century (“Rules of Conduct for the Clergy and All Citizens of Society”). The latest manuscript is of the 19th century (an “Irmologion”).

The oldest early printed book dates from 1623 (“The New Testament with the Psalter”). The latest early printed books date from 1825.

Besides early printed books, the 19th century is represented by other very interesting book production that helps to reveal the theme “Education. Public Education in Kharkiv Governorate”: “Programmes for Examinations in District Schools” (1838), “Public Schools in Kharkiv” (1865), “Report on the Activity of the Kharkiv Society for the Spread of Literacy among the People for 1891” (1892), “The 25th Anniversary of M. D. Raievska’s Kharkiv Drawing School” (1895) and “A Study Aid for the Music Classes of the Kharkiv Institute for Noble Girls” (1895).

Large selections can be assigned to a separate thematic treatment, “Kharkiv University: The Past”: “Minutes of the Meetings of the Council of the Imperial Kharkiv University” (1870–1873), “Proceedings of the Society of Naturalists at the Imperial Kharkiv University” (1871–1896) and “Proceedings of the Physico-Chemical Section of the Society of Experimental Sciences at the Imperial Kharkiv University” (1869–1893).

The years 1910–1917 are represented by varied book production, namely “Journals of the Kharkiv Zemstvo Assembly…” (1903, 1907, 1908), “Proceedings of the Kharkiv Medical Society” (1905), “Stenographic Reports of the State Duma of the Third and Fourth Convocations” (1909, 1913) and “A Collection of Laws and Orders of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government for 1917”.

Books and brochures such as “A Collection of Laws and Orders of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government for 1920 and 1922”, “Reports of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of Ukraine”, D. Erde’s “The Revolution in Ukraine”, works by J. V. Stalin (1920s), stenographic reports of conferences of the CP(b)U, bulletins of the All-Ukrainian congresses of the CP(b)U, the magazine “Chronicle of the Revolution” (1924–1929), printed works by the scholars M. F. Sumtsov and V. Ya. Danylevskyi, and “Scientific Notes of the V. I. Lenin Kharkiv Technological Institute” (1927–1929) reveal the conventional theme “The 1920s. Life after the October Coup”.

The equally conventional theme “The 1930s–1940s. Pre-War Life” is reproduced in a collection of books and brochures such as “A Collection of Laws and Orders of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Government of Ukraine”, stenographic reports and resolutions of the 16th, 17th and 18th congresses of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), works by J. V. Stalin and P. P. Postyshev, and works by the Ukrainian writers I. Le, M. Skazbush, P. Panch and N. Zabila.

To reveal the theme “The Second World War”, the museum’s collection has a very small choice of literature: “Orders of the People’s Commissar of Defence. 1942, 1943”, works by the writers A. M. Tolstoi, B. L. Horbatov, K. M. Simonov, M. P. Bazhan and O. P. Dovzhenko, the playwrights O. Ye. Kornichuk and M. L. Kropyvnytskyi, and the poet M. T. Rylskyi.

Book production dated to the 1950s is suitable for revealing the exhibition theme “The 1950s. Reconstruction”. These are books and brochures such as “Communication of the State Planning Committee of the USSR and the Central Statistical Administration of the USSR on the Results of Fulfilment of the 4th (the First Post-War) Plan of the USSR for 1946–1950”, works by J. V. Stalin (1950), “Proceedings of the Kharkiv Automobile and Road Institute” (1950), “Bulletin of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Plant Growing, Breeding and Genetics” (1958), “Proceedings of the Radiophysics Faculty of the Kharkiv State University named after A. M. Gorky, Order of the Red Banner of Labour” (1959), “Proceedings of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Plant Growing, Breeding and Genetics” (1959), “Proceedings of the V. I. Lenin Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (1959), and works by the writers I. A. Bahmut, O. V. Donchenko and I. L. Muratov.

The exhibition theme “The 1960s–1980s. Further Development and State Building” is revealed by a fairly large collection of books and brochures, namely “For a High Standard of Farming” (1965), “The Millionth” (about the Ordzhonikidze KhTZ, 1967), “150 Years of the V. V. Dokuchaiev Kharkiv Agricultural Institute, Order of the Red Banner of Labour” (1967), “Proceedings of the Yuzhgiprotsement Institute” (1964), “Proceedings of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Poultry Farming” (1966), “Materials of the Third Scientific and Practical Conference of the Departments of the Ukrainian Institute for the Advanced Training of Doctors” (1967), “Proceedings of the Ukrainian Research Institute of Gas” (1967), “People of Labour Feat” (1967), “The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the USSR, Bulletins Nos. 1–22” (1961), “Bulletin No. 1 of the Joint Session of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities at the Seventh Session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR” (1965), “The USSR. Administrative and Territorial Division of the Union Republics” (1965), works by the writers I. O. Vyrhan and L. V. Zabashta (1960s), books from the series “History of Factories and Plants” (1975), textbooks in mathematics and Russian and primers (1970s); works by L. I. Brezhnev (“Malaya Zemlya”, “Vozrozhdenie”, “Tselina”) in various languages of the world; works by the writers I. A. Bahmut and R. F. Polonskyi and the poet I. L. Muratov (1970s); materials of the 26th Congress of the CPSU and the CPU; brochures and books devoted to the 20th anniversary of the exploration of outer space (1981); thematically grouped brochures such as “From the Experience of Work of Komsomol Organisations of Enterprises and Higher Schools of Kharkiv” (1982); and monographs of the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR.

Book editions of the 1990s form an interesting thematic selection in the collection of the Kharkiv Historical Museum, namely “Governors and Governors-General” (1996), “From the History of Ukrainian Literature of the 17th–18th Centuries” (1999), “Pharmaceutical Kharkiv” (1999), “The Kharkiv Diocese, an Evergreen Branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church” (1999), “The History of the Kharkiv Diocese” (1999) and “The Kharkiv Collegium” (1999).

The range of themes revealed by items of the “Books, Brochures” collection becomes even wider in the 2000s. Suitable for this are books and brochures such as “Heads of Customs Institutions of Sloboda Ukraine” (2000), “Customs Houses of Sloboda Ukraine” (2000), “55 Years since the Victory” (2000), “The Law of Ukraine ‘On the Elections of People’s Deputies of Ukraine’” (2001), “The Feldsher School: The History of Its Formation and Development” (2001), “KhTZ: Years and People” (2001), “The Kharkiv Historical and Philological Society” (2002), “The Life and Activity of Germans in Kharkiv (19th – Early 20th Century)” (2004), “Who Is Who in Kharkiv Region. Outstanding Fellow Countrymen. Issue One” (2004), “Who Is Who in Kharkiv Region. Outstanding Fellow Countrymen. Issue Two” (2005), “The Higher Medical School of Kharkiv Region in the Years of the Great Patriotic War” (2005), “The Public Nature-Conservation Movement in Ukraine Began in Kharkiv Region” (2005), “The History of Kharkiv State Medical University. 200 Years” (2005), “500 Influential Personalities. Jubilee Kharkiv” (2005), “Artistic Kharkiv Region: History, Traditions and the Present. For the 70th Anniversary of the Kharkiv Organisation of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine” (book and album, 2008), “In the Footsteps of Vasylkivskyi: A Look through the Centuries” (album and catalogue, 2009) and “The Orthodox Encyclopaedia of Kharkiv Region” (2009).

Very close to the collection of books and brochures is the collection of albums. It numbers 1,668 storage units.

A fairly weighty part of the albums collection consists of albums of the pre-revolutionary period. All of them in one way or another reveal the large exhibition theme “The Life of the Country before the October Coup”.

It is divided into several small themes. These are: “The Archaeological Past of the Region” (the albums “Album of the Exhibition of the 12th Archaeological Congress in Kharkiv”, 1903; M. Rostovtsev, “Ancient Decorative Painting in the South of Russia. Atlas. Plates I–CXII”, 1913; and M. Rostovtsev, “Ancient Decorative Painting in the South of Russia. Vol. I. Description and Study of the Monuments”, 1914); “The Patriotic War of 1812” (“Napoleon’s Invasion. The Patriotic War of 1812”, 1911; “The Patriotic War of 1812 in Russian Painting”, 1962); “The Decembrists” (“Album in Memory of the Decembrists”, 1907; “Album from a Collection of Materials on the Decembrists”, an early 20th-century publication; “The Decembrist Uprising in Works of Art”, 1975); “The Crimean War of 1853–1856” (3 albums of “Portraits of Persons Distinguished by Service in the Events of 1853, 1854, 1855 and 1856”, 1857); “The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878” (“Album of Portraits of Figures of the War of 1877–1878” and “Pictures of the War of 1877–1878”, early 20th-century publications); “Ukrainian Antiquity” (“Catalogue of Ukrainian Antiquities from the Collection of V. Tarnovskyi”, 1898; “The Zaporozhians”, 1991; “From Ukrainian Antiquity”, 1991; “Treasures of Our Memory”, 1993); “Kharkiv. 1861–1917” (“The Kharkiv Commercial School of Emperor Alexander III”, 1891; “The Kharkiv Private Women’s Sunday School”, 1895; “Graduation of Students of the Technological Institute”, 1897; “Album for the Centenary of the Imperial Kharkiv University”, 1905; “The Kharkiv Land Bank”, 1906); “The Russo-Japanese War” (3 albums of “The Russo-Japanese War”, 1905); “The October Coup, the Civil War” (“The ABC of the Revolution”, “The October Revolution in Ukraine”, “Soldiers of the Revolution”, “The First Cavalry”); “Kharkiv in the 1930s” (“Kharkiv Builds”, 1931; “Dzerzhynskyi Square”, 1932; “The Second Graduation of the Kharkiv Institute of Transport Engineers, 15 June 1932”; “The Ukrainian Industrial Academy. 1933–1937”; “Graduation of Doctors of the 1st Kharkiv Medical Institute. 1933–1938”); “Ukraine. Kharkiv. The Second World War” (“The Great Patriotic War, 1942”, “The Great Patriotic War, 1943”, “Only Documents”, “The Victory Parade”, “Heroes of the Great Patriotic War”); “Kharkiv. 1950s–1980s” (“Our Native Kharkiv”, 1951; “Our Native Kharkiv”, 1952; “Kharkiv Today”, 1960; “Kharkiv”, 1968; “Kharkov”, 1973; “Kharkov: Architecture and Monuments of Kharkov”, 1986); and “The Art of Ukraine, of Kharkiv Region and of Kharkiv” (“Ukrainian Folk Art”, 1912; “The Ukrainian Revolutionary Poster”, 1933; “Etchings and Autolithographs by Students of the Graphic Faculty of the Kharkiv State Art Institute”, 1951; “Ukrainian Fine Art (Painting, Sculpture, Graphic Art)”, 1956; “An Exhibition of Works by the Kharkiv Artists Tomenko, Myronenko and Vykhtynskyi in Italy in Bologna”, 1966; “Fine Art of Kharkov”, 1978).