The Library of the Headquarters of the Border Guard Special Corps. To the 125th Anniversary of the Corps Foundation

Due to the lack of studies on the history of librarianship in the Border Guard Special Corps (BGSC), this article considers for the first time the history of creation and development of the library at its headquarters. The purpose of the article is the reconstruction of the library stocks, first of all its quantitative indices and thematic content, basing on “The Library Catalogue of the Headquarters of the Border Guard Special Corps” of 1906. The author widely used the method of comparative analysis, which allowed to reveal the catalogue shortcomings, common to pre-revolutionary libraries, and specific features of catalogue compilation, to identify similarities and differences in the subject matter of the available publications and their distribution between Military Department divisions with similar book collections (using the example of “Systematic Catalogue of books of the Library of Headquarters of the Moscow Military District, published in the same 1906, and three additions to it). The core of the source base of the study were the library catalogues and orders of the chiefs of the Border Guard. This study allowed the author to establish the date of creation of the library, which should be considered January 30, 1895, as on that day the Corps Headquarters Order No. 12 recorded the first receipt of books and quantitative indices of the stock, which included 33 authors (names) in 110 volumes. According to the catalogue, by 1906 the library included 454 authors (names) of publications in 1396 volumes. The article revealed the existence of one more library at the headquarters of the BGSC, arranged and operated at Corps Museum. The results show that organising and development of libraries at the headquarters of BGSC and its structural units went in one course with the establishment and further existence of libraries of the Military Department. They had similar departments, same sources of accession, including from the General Staff, depended on the attitude of higher administration and the initiative of the officers themselves.

Border Guard Special Corps, BGSC, A.D. Svinyin, N.A. Pykhachev, M.P. Chernushevich, library of the corps headquarters, catalogue of books, library at the corps museum, history of librarianship, military subject bibliography

1. Chernushevich M.P. Materialy k istorii pogranichnoi strazhi: v 2 ch. Ch. I. Sluzhba v mirnoe vremya. Vyp. I—IV [Materials on the Border Guard History: in 2 parts. Part I. Peacetime Service. Issues I—IV]. St. Petersburg, Shtaba Otdel’nogo Korpusa Pogranichnoi Strazhi Publ., 1900—1906, issue I, 123 p., issue II, 183 p., issue III, 349 p., issue IV, XX, 766 p.

2. Chernushevich M.P. Materialy k istorii Pogranichnoi strazhi: v 2-kh ch. Ch. II. Sluzhba v mirnoe vremya. Vyp. I—II [Materials on the Border Guard History: in 2 parts. Part II. Peacetime Service. Issues I—II]. St. Petersburg, Shtaba Otdel’nogo Korpusa Pogranichnoi Strazhi Publ., 1904—1909, issue I, 119 p., issue II, VIII, 428 p.

3. Plekhanov A.A., Plekhanov A.M. Otdel’nyi korpus pogranichnoi strazhi imperatorskoi Rossii (1893—1917): istoricheskii ocherk [Border Guard Separate Corps of Imperial Russia (1893—1917): historical essay]. Moscow, Granitsa Publ., 2003, 287 p.

4. Bandurin S.G. Rukovodyashchie kadry Pogranichnoi sluzhby: istoriya i sovremennost’ [Senior Officers of the Border Service: History and Modernity]. Moscow, Moskovskogo Gumanitarnogo Universiteta Publ., 2008, 276 p.

5. Bandurin S.G. The Elite of the Border (According to the Soviet Period Sources), Bibliotekovedenie [Library and Information Science (Russia)], 2008, no. 5, pp. 46—52 (in Russ.).

6. Bandurin S.G. Command Staff Formation of the Border Guard Separate Corps: Sources of the Pre-Revolutionary Period, Bibliotekovedenie [Library and Information Science (Russia)], 2009, no. 4, pp. 59—62 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.25281/0869-608X-2009-0-4-59-62.

7. Vitte S.Yu. Izbrannye vospominaniya. 1849—1911 gg. [Selected Memories. 1849—1911]. Moscow, Mysl’ Publ., 1991, 708 p.

8. Border Guard, Voennaya entsiklopediya [Military Encyclopedia]. Petrograd, Tovarishchestvo I.D. Sytina Publ., 1915, pp. 483—485 (in Russ.).

9. Chernushevich M.P. Materialy k istorii pogranichnoi strazhi: v 2 ch. Ch. I. Sluzhba v mirnoe vremya. Vyp. I [Materials on the Border Guard History: in 2 parts. Part I. Peacetime Service. Issue I]. St. Petersburg, Shtaba Otdel’nogo Korpusa Pogranichnoi Strazhi Publ., 1900, 123 p.

10. Podvigi chinov Kalishskoi brigady pogranichnoi strazhi, pri usmirenii pol’skogo myatezha v 1863 i 1864 godu [Exploits of Officers of the Kalisz Brigade of the Border Guard, in the Pacification of the Polish Rebellion in 1863 and 1864]. St. Petersburg, V. Spiridonova Publ., 1866, 48 p.

11. Ocherk deyatel’nosti Zaamurskogo okruga Otdel’nogo korpusa pogranichnoi strazhi v period minuvshei Russko-Yaponskoi voiny (1904—1905 gg.). Po ofitsial’nym istochnikam i lichnym vpechatleniyam uchastnika poruchika I.K. Shakhnovskogo [Essay on the Activities of the Zaamursky District Border Guard Separate Corps during the Past Russian-Japanese War (1904—1905). According to Official Sources and the Personal Impressions of its Participant Lieutenant I.K. Shakhnovsky]. St. Petersburg, “Energiya” Publ., 1906, 144 p.

12. Russian Military Review. On the Establishment of the Kars Brigade of the Border Guard, and on the Changes in the Staffing of Other Brigades. Order of the Border Guard Chief on January 29, 1894, No 3, Voennyi sbornik [Military Collection], 1894, no. 3, pp. 25—27 (in Russ.).

13. Russian Military Review. Temporary Distribution of Rights and Duties between the Commanding Authorities in the Border Guard Separate Corps. Order of the Border Guard Chief on March 26, 1894, No 12, Voennyi sbornik [Military Collection], 1894, no. 5, pp. 38—41 (in Russ.).

14. Rezhepo P.A. Statistika generalov [Statistics of Generals]. St. Petersburg, Trenke i Fyusno Publ., 1903, 30 p.

15. Katalog biblioteki shtaba Otdel’nogo korpusa pogranichnoi strazhi [Catalogue of the Headquarters Library of the Border Guard Separate Corps]. St. Petersburg, Shtaba Otdel’nogo Korpusa Pogranichnoi Strazhi Publ., 1906, III, 128 p.

16. Sistematicheskii katalog knig biblioteki shtaba Moskovskogo voennogo okruga: k 1-mu yanvarya 1907 g. [Systematic Book Catalogue of the Headquarters Library of the Moscow Military Region: By January 1, 1907]. Moscow, Shtaba Moskovskogo Voennogo Okruga Publ., 1906, II, 142 p.

17. Pervoe dopolnenie k Sistematicheskomu katalogu knig biblioteki shtaba Moskovskogo voennogo okruga. Knigi, postupivshie v biblioteku za 1906-i god i ne voshedshie v katalog [First Appendix to the Systematic Book Catalogue of the Headquarters Library of the Moscow Military Region. The Books Acquired by the Library in 1906 and Not Included in the Catalogue]. Moscow, Shtaba Moskovskogo Voennogo Okruga Publ., 1906, 8 p.

18. Vtoroe dopolnenie k Sistematicheskomu katalogu knig biblioteki shtaba Moskovskogo voennogo okruga. Knigi, postupivshie v biblioteku za 1907-i god [Second Appendix to the Systematic Book Catalogue of the Headquarters Library of the Moscow Military Region. The Books Acquired by the Library in 1907]. Moscow, Shtaba Moskovskogo Voennogo Okruga Publ., 1908, 16 p.

19. Tret’e dopolnenie k Sistematicheskomu katalogu knig biblioteki shtaba Moskovskogo voennogo okruga. Knigi, postupivshie v biblioteku za 1908-i god [Third Appendix to the Systematic Book Catalogue of the Headquarters Library of the Moscow Military Region. The Books Acquired by the Library in 1908]. Moscow, Shtaba Moskovskogo Voennogo Okruga Publ., 1909, 9 p.

20. Chernushevich M.P. Katalog muzeya Otdel’nogo korpusa pogranichnoi strazhi [Catalogue of the Museum of the Border Guard Separate Corps]. Petrograd, Shtaba Otdel’nogo Korpusa Pogranichnoi Strazhi Publ., 1915, 105 p.

21. 100 let na strazhe pamyati [100 Years Guarding the Memory]. Moscow, 2014, 35 p.