Libraries and society: Unknown letter of Nikolai Karamzin found in the Penza Regional Library

A letter of historian and writer Nikolai Karamzin, unknown to science, was found in the collection of the Penza Regional Library. The letter is dated 1816 and addressed to Karamzin’s stepbrother, Alexander, said the author of the finding, Ph.D. in history, Dmitry Murashov.

According to Murashov, the two hundred years old document was found during preparations for the "Karamzin Readings." The letter was glued to the first volume of the collected works of Karamzin, published by Alexander Smirdin in 1848. As it turned out later, this book came from the personal library of Penza governor Nikolai Seliverstov (1867-1872), which he donated to the city.

"The discovery was difficult to believe, as Karamzin was not related to the Penza area, never been here. So of course, I was very surprised to see a letter of the historian," says the scientist. Today, Murashov noted, it is hard to say for certain how the letter joined the governor's library.

According to him, the authenticity of the letter is not in doubt - it is written on the paper of the time, and the comparison of handwriting proved that it belonged to Karamzin. Other local historians from Penza agreed with Murashov’s conclusions.

In addition, the authenticity of the finding is also proved by the fact that on the same day (April 4, 1816) Karamzin wrote a letter to his other brother - Vasily Mikhailovich, where in the same words described the approval of the "History of the Russian state" by the Emperor. That letter was published in 1858.

A full report on the previously unknown letter of Nikolai Karamzin will be delivered by Murashov at the All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference "Karamzin Readings", which will be held this December in Ulyanovsk.