Two Russian Foundational Collections at Columbia University Library: Witte & Warburg

ABSTRACT This article sheds light upon an important though widely forgotten episode of Russian American history, illustrating the efforts of prominent Russian statesman, Count Sergei Witte, to educate Americans about his native land. While touring Columbia University in the summer of 1905 and discovering the absence of documents and works relating to Russian economic and social conditions in its library, Witte ordered various Russian governmental agencies to arrange for collections of their most important publications to be shipped there. Matching previously unpublished archival materials in the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA) with corresponding records at Columbia made it possible to illuminate the generous imperial gift of thousands of volumes of official publications, which became the foundation of the Slavic section of Columbia University Library. The article also touches upon the role of prominent members of the Columbia University Board of Trustees in welcoming Count Witte and expands on Warburg’s donation that allowed Columbia to subscribe to many important papers and purchase books and pamphlets relating to the first Russian revolution.