One of the largest and richest collections of its kind outside of Europe, Widener Library’s Slavic collection includes monographs and periodicals, rare books, unique and distinctive ephemera, electronic and born-digital resources, data sets and audiovisual materials.
Collections date back to the early 19th century and attract researchers from all over the world.
Each year, newly published scholarly publications and mainstream materials are acquired, as well as a selection of unique and distinctive materials to meet the needs of current faculty and researchers.
Some acquisitions that stand out in recent time are:
- Czech and Slovak samizdat collection: 1968-1990
- Soviet and Post-Soviet Independent Press Collection
- Late and Post-Soviet Ephemera Collection
- Slavic Poster Collection
- E-books from Russia and Belarus
Widener Library's Slavic collection is closely interwoven with the collections of other libraries at Harvard such as the Davis Center Collection at the Fung Library, the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute Library and the Houghton Library (rare books and manuscripts).
Accessing These Materials
All materials in this collection are listed in the HOLLIS Catalog.