In November 1818, the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) decided to buy a collection of 700 Muslim manuscripts from the French consul in Aleppo and Tripoli, J.L. Rousseau, a relative of the famous philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The project which was later fulfilled in two steps, in 1819 and 1825, and which cost FF51,000, led to the formation of a new department within the RAS - the Asiatic Museum (AM) which later was transformed into the Institute of Oriental Studies (IOS). On November 15 (27), 1918, the RAS's President, count Sergey Uvarov applied to the Board of Academy with a letter where he suggested that a special cabinet for Eastern medals, manuscripts and books to be kept should be granted. Thus, the AM was formed and this new division of the Academy "was opened for all the people interested in the study of its materials".
A year later, in November 1819, the first director of the AM, academician C.-M. von Frähn published the annual report of the AM in the newspaper St Petersburg News (Sankt-Peterburgskie vedomosti). In 1849, the AM began issuing the magazine Asiatic notes (Mélanges Asiatiques) in French. »»»»»