Information Potential of the Epistolary Heritage of P. Kulish in Funds of V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine

The aim of the article is to define the information potential of the epistolary heritage of P. Kulish in the funds of V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine by analysing and establishing its documentary content, which makes it possible to reproduce retrospective information that complements and expands already known facts about the personality. Research methods. Along with general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, the research uses historical, systematic, typological and aesthetic ones, as well as methods of archival and source scholar heuristics, source scholar criticism of sources, their textual analysis and information reconstruction. The scientific novelty of the study consists in highlighting the information resources representing the epistolary heritage of P. Kulish in V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine funds. The existing document multitude, primarily letters and telegrams, in the form of manuscripts and copies (in particular, typewritten articles by researchers of P. Kulish), which are of scientific interest for studying the writer’s life and creativity, is analyzed in detail. Main conclusions. In the funds of IR NBUV, there are about one thousand and a half letters of P. Kulish, which cover a long chronological range and present the names of many correspondents, both well-known and unknown, as well as letters without specifying the names of the addressees. The archive of P. Kulish is not consolidated in one fund, but scattered among different funds of the scientific institution: I, II, VII, X, 63, 95, 112, 131, 170, 172, 251, 315, 338 (the total number is 12 funds). Complex funds No. I “Literary materials”, No. III “Correspondence”, and fund No. X “Archives of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences”, in which the artist’s epistolary documents predominate, deserve special attention. The document collection of P. Kulish, which is kept in No. 315, and is represented by the author’s epistolary block, is also noteworthy. Fund No. I presents about one thousand letters of P. Kulish, many of which do not contain information about the addressees (it is a damaged document or an unidentified addressee), which prevents the full reproduction of retrospective information, but still complements and expands already known facts. The epistles of P. Kulish to his addressees recorded information of a biographical nature, which is a valuable addition to his own prosopographical portrait. For the most part, the writer’s letters are characterised by informative content, as they are aimed to be read by a definite person. In addition, at that time, correspondence was one of the most important means of communication.