Collections : [Rare Book & Manuscript Library]

Papers include Kagan's correspondence, photographs, printed materials and audio tapes. All letters in the collection date from 1938-39, when he had moved his Petropolis operations to Brussels; there are items by Vladislav Khodasevich, Vladimir Nabokov, and Mikhail Osorgin, and others. Among the photographs are pictures of Ivan Bunin, Konstantin Fedin, and Evgeniĭ Zami︠a︡tin. Printed materials consist chiefly of books published by his firms; some of the books are inscribed, for example by Nikolaĭ Berdi︠a︡ev and Lev Karsavin. Included is a lengthy taped interview of Kagan by Marc Raeff in which Kagan discuses his life and publishing activities.

The papers consist of correspondence, manuscripts, notes, documents, photographs, subject files, and printed materials. Among the correspondents are Louis Marin, Mikhail Osorgin, Alekseĭ Remizov, Boris Ubegaun, George Vernadsky, and the "Eurasianists" Petr Savitskiĭ and Petr Suvchinskiĭ; there is one letter from Nikolaĭ Marr. There is the manuscript of Nikitin's memoirs, "Arabeski: pochemu i︠a︡ stal vostochnikom?" There are extensive notes of lectures by Nikolaĭ Berdi︠a︡ev in 1925. Numerous photographs date from Nikitin's service in Iran. Subject files concern the Eurasian movement (evraziĭstvo), and the Committee "For Return to the Homeland" ("Za Vozvrashchenie na Rodinu"). Printed materials largely consist of Nikitin's own writings.