The Russian Empire and Soviet Union. A Guide to Manuscripts and Archival Materials in the United States

• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/scd0001.20071205001ru.2 (page-turner)
• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/scd0001.20071205001ru.1 (searchable pdf; 343 MB; requires free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view)

Grant and Brown's guide was a landmark publication in the field of Slavic and East European studies. It lists materials in -- for the most part -- U.S. archives and manuscript repositories in all fifty states that relate to the Russian Empire, its antecedents, and its successor, the Soviet Union. For good reasons, many non-Russian nationalities and cultures (some Slavic, some not) were included in the book. According to the authors, "[t]he emphasis throughout has been on the homelands of these people, rather than on their emigration and life in the United States or elsewhere. However, some documents pertaining to émigré life have been included."

The materials described in the guide are extremely diverse in character, covering the broadest possible range of subjects. These topics include, for example, matters political, historical, social, economic, diplomatic, artistic, literary, religious, military, and musical. Entries are in alphabetical order by state, by city, and thereunder by repository, institution, or individual. Under each entry, collections are again in alphabetical order. The individual collection entries for the approximately 650 different repositories in the book are followed by a combined subject and name index.

The book was digitized with permission of the copyright holders.