Alexander A. Vasiliev Papers

Repository: Dumbarton Oaks Archives, Washington, D.C.

Call Number: Byzantine Studies/Vasiliev Files

Location: Archives 058, C4

Name of Creator(s): Alexander A. Vasiliev

Title: Alexander A. Vasiliev Papers

Inclusive Date: ca. 1930s to 1953

Language(s): Russian, Italian, French, German, and English

Quantity: 5 boxes

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information: These papers came to Dumbarton Oaks at an unknown date.

Processing Information: The papers were inventoried by James N. Carder in 1999.

Terms of Use and Access: These papers can be used for research and publication purposes.

Physical Access: An appointment is required for access to these papers. For appointment and queries contact James N. Carder, Archivist, carderj@doaks.org.

Preferred Citation: Alexander A. Vasiliev Papers, Dumbarton Oaks Archives. Courtesy of Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, D.C.

Historical Note

Alexander Alexandrovich Vasiliev (Александр Александрович Васильев) (1867–1953) was considered the foremost authority on Byzantine history and culture in the mid-20th century. HisHistory of the Byzantine Empire (vols. 1–2, 1928) remains one of a few comprehensive accounts of the entire Byzantine history. Vasiliev studied under one of the earliest professional Byzantinists, Vasily Vasilievsky, at the University of St. Petersburg and later taught the Arabic language there. Between 1897 and 1900, he continued his education in Paris. In 1902, he accompanied Nicholas Marr on his trip to the St. Catherine Monastery in the Sinai. During his stay at the Tartu University (1904–1912), Vasiliev prepared and published an influential monograph, Byzantium and the Arabs (1907). He also worked in the Russian Archaeology Institute, established by Fyodor Uspensky in Constantinople. In 1912, he moved to the St. Petersburg University as a professor. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1919. In 1925, during his visit to Paris, Vasiliev was persuaded by Michael Rostovtzeff to emigrate to the West. It was Rostovtzeff who ensured a position at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, for him. Several decades later, Vasiliev moved to work at Dumbarton Oaks, where he was a Senior Scholar between 1944 and 1948 and thereafter a Scholar Emeritus. Towards the end of his life, he was elected President of the Nikodim Kondakov Institute in Prague and of the Association Internationale des Etudes Byzantines. Biography: Milton V. Anastos, “Alexander A. Vasiliev: A Personal Sketch,” The Russian Review 13, no. 1 (January, 1954): 59–63, and Sirarpie Der Nersessian, “Alexander Alexandrovich Vasiliev, 1867–1953,” Dumbarton Oaks Papers 9/10 (1956): 1–21.

Scope and Content

The Alexander A. Vasiliev Papers contain his notes, correspondence, drafts, typescripts, newspaper clippings, reprints of journal articles by him and others, and an appointment calendar. The Dumbarton Oaks Archives also has holdings of Vasiliev’s 1951 correspondence.

Extent

5 boxes containing 27 folders.

Collection Inventory and Description

Box 1 of 5

Folder 1:

• Groups of Notes
• Portrait of Byzantine Emperors
• Bibliothèque grècque vulgaire
• Tana T’Mutarakan [?]
• Pegolotti

• Various references

Folder 2:

• Russian newspaper clippings [very poor condition]

Folder 3:

• Groups of Notes
• Trebizond A-E
• Trebizond F-L

Folder 4:

• Groups of Notes
• Trebizond M-Z
• Trebizond before 1204

Folder 5:

• Trebizond notes: Trebizond in literature, Trebizond in the 7th century,
• Lecture on Empire of Trebizond, 1936

Folder 6:

• Groups of Notes
• Trebizond Used Sheets
• Empire of Trebizond
• M. Panerotis Chronicle [but appears to be Trebizond material]
• Miscellaneous Trebizond
• Trebizond Sources

Box 2 of 5

Folder 7:

• Groups of Notes
• Notes for Yazid II
• The Edict of Yazid II
• For Paris

Folder 8:

• Groups of Notes
• Alexander the Great-English and French
• Alexander the Great
• Alexander the Great and Mahomet

Folder 9:

• New Edition of My History [notes, correspondence]
• Reviews of My History of the Byzantine Empire

Folder 10:

• Byzantium and the Arabs, typescript and manuscript

Folder 11:

• Symposium 1946: photos
• Symposium 1947: typescript
• Symposium 1952 [?]: manuscript

Folder 12:

• Lectures at the Collège de France: Byzance et l'Ancienne Russie

Folder 13:

• Various talks and lectures
• Talk at the Banquet of the Honorary [?], 1936
• Talks in Madison
• First Congress of Byzantino-Slavo-Oriental Studies
• Communication in Memory of Charles Diehl
• Farewell to the Library of the U. of Wisconsin

Folder 14:

• Report of Work 1933–34
• Report of Work 1945–46 and after

Folder 15:

• Oberlin Lectures

Box 3 of 5

Folder 16:

• Miscellaneous loose notes

Folder 17:

• Cairo, London, Alaska, Tahiti, St. Pierre and Miquelon [notes on travels]

Folder 18:

• Material for Memoirs

Folder 19:

• Material for Musical Recollections

Folder 20:

• Various personal notes, papers, letters

Box 4 of 5

Folder 21:

• Groups of Notes and Letters:
• Life of Vita S. Pancratius
• Theme: Talaya. . .
• Seminary, 1st Seminar, 1933–1934
• Copies of letters of Recommendations
• G.L. Lozinsky

Folder 22:

• Papers of Alexander Vasiliev [damaged by flood]

Folder 23:

• From folder marked Alexander Vasiliev's work at Dumbarton Oaks, 1948–49 [actually contains newspaper clippings; damaged by flood]

Folder 24:

• Typescript of Prester John: Legend and History

Folder 25:

• Reprint of “Economic Relations between Byzantium and Old Russia,” Journal of Economic and Business History; “Review: Vizantisky Sbornik,” Speculum

Box 5 of 5

Folder 26:

• Prester John, Legend and History [handwritten manuscript, ca. 260 pages]

Folder 27:

• Miscellaneous letter and appointment calendar