Last updated: October 20, 2021
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Russian Bishop's House Library
NPS Photo
Since Bishop Innocent moved into the building in December of 1843, the site now known as the Russian Bishop’s House has had a varied, and circulating library. The buildings’ literary history includes titles like, Practical Handbook of Affairs for Priests(1900), Goals and Meaning of Life (1903), and Collection of Songs for Two Violins.
Beginning in 1845, the building began educating children, “who are not attending school, for instruction in God’s Law in the House chapel.” With the start of the school, the library expanded to include academic material, both secular and religious. The current book collection, on display in the Prayer Room, reflects these varied subjects including General Geography (1861), Brief History of the Christian Church (1859), New Russian Calligraphy Patterns (1860) , Linear and Spherical Trigonometry (1855), and Selected Lives of Saints (1860)
Between August 3rd and 19, 1987, anthropologist Sergei Kan surveyed approximately 1400 books, booklets, pamphlets, and similar published materials, individually cataloging each. The oldest book in this collection was published in 1844 while the newest book was published in 1908. The majority of these items were originally printed in Russian with exceptions including works printed in Church Slavonic, German, French, Ukrainian, and English.
NPS Photo
List of book subjects in library
Languages:
Russian Language = 9
Religion
General = 8
Spirituality/theology = 6
Religious texts = 13
Church service = 3
Christian Ed = 1
History = 7
E.W. Merrill Photo
Linguistics = 1
Math
Arithmetic = 5
Algebra = 1
Geometry = 1
Trig = 5
Geography
Natural Science & Geography = 1
Science
Phrenology = 1
Miscellaneous
Guide for Tourists = 1
Fables = 1
Accidents of Life = 1
Princes = 2
Famous Stories = 1
Literary = 1
Notes of Life Abroad = 1
Jesuits in Russia = 1
Ways of Fighting Moisture in Buildings = 1