History and culture: The Manuscript Museum may appear at the Pushkin House in Saint-Petersburg

The Institute of Russian Literature (“Pushkin House”) is going in the next year to create a virtual museum of manuscripts, and then turn it into a real, told to reporters the director of the Pushkin House Vsevolod Bagno after the meeting of the Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow.

The Institute of Russian literature has a unique collection of documents that are critical to national culture. In Pushkin House there are manuscripts of Pushkin, Lermontov, Dostoevsky, Gogol and other eminent writers. Unfortunately, the originals can be seen only by specialists. The Manuscript Museum is to open access to the originals to the public.

Next year it is planned to provide to the public a virtual variant of the museum of manuscripts. Gradually, the museum may obtain real shapes.

At present, the Pushkin Museum has no free space, where the exposition could stay. Bagno is counting on help in solving this issue by the city authorities and the St. Petersburg Scientific Center of the RAS.

Getting additional space would allow reservists to transfer and release several rooms at the Pushkin House. The vacant space could become the basis for the presentation of the museum collection.