Personal Library of Anthony Cross, Historian & Scholar of 18th Century Russian Studies, Now at Hillwood

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens is pleased to announce the acquisition of the personal library of Professor Anthony Cross, historian and scholar of 18th-century Russian studies and professor of Slavonic Studies at the University of Cambridge from 1985 to 2004. He is internationally known for his work on 18th-century Russia and Anglo-Russian cultural relations. Professor Cross has written and edited 25 books and has published over 400 articles, notes and reviews.  Through his academic life, Professor Cross received several distinguishing accolades: In 1989, he was elected to the British Academy; he was invited to join the Russian Academy of the Humanities in 1996. In 2010 he received an honorary doctorate from the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House).

The collection, built over the course of 60 years, includes 2,330 books in Russian, English, French and German, on literature, art, architecture, drama, history, freemasonry, history of science, geography, bibliography, and St. Petersburg; hundreds of offprints; and several linear feet of Cross’ personal files on individual authors and subjects.

The literature section of the collection includes numerous anthologies and histories, as well as works by, and studies on, all the leading authors of 18th-century Russia. The enlightenment and freemasonry sections include first editions of monographs by Pypin, Longinov, Vernadskii, and Barskov.  The reigns of Peter I and Catherine II are particularly well represented in the history section, which includes more than 400 volumes. The fine art section covers not only painting and engraving but also architecture, sculpture, gem stones, ceramics, numismatics, museums, heraldry, and genealogy. Additionally, there is an excellent section on the history of St. Petersburg, which includes many 19th-century studies but also a great many small-edition booklets and brochures.  

Professor Anthony Cross' personal library is a welcome addition to Hillwood’s special collections library, joining the assemblages of other prominent scholars such as Andrei Avinoff, former director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History; Edward Kasinec, former chief of the New York Public Library Slavic and Baltic Division; and Anne Odom, former curator emerita at Hillwood. A dynamic research library, Hillwood’s holdings reflect the institution’s collection of imperial Russian and 18th-century French decorative arts within a broad social and art-historical context. The library contains approximately 38,000 items that consist primarily of monographs, auction catalogs, rare and antiquarian materials, Marjorie Merriweather Post’s book collections, periodicals, and vertical and ephemeral files. Researchers are invited to use the library Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. While walk-ins are accepted, appointments are encouraged to guarantee access. The Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens special collections library abides by the interlibrary loan guidelines of the American Library Association. Direct email inquiries can be made to Elena Stuart at estuart@hillwoodmuseum.org or at 202.243.3934 for more information about the library or to make an appointment.  More information about the special collections is available here: http://www.hillwoodmuseum.org/archives-special-collections 

Text provided by Margaret Huang, Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens Archivist / Librarian