The Conference, held in the year of the 300th Anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences, will be dedicated to the 140th birthday anniversary of Boris Yakovlevich Vladimirtsov (1884–1931), an outstanding scholar, academician of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, the founder of modern Russian Mongolian Studies. The written culture of the Mongol peoples occupied a special place in the research of B.Ya. Vladimirtsov. He compiled a catalogue of Mongolian books and manuscripts kept at the National Library of France and the British Museum. Working in the Asiatic Museum (now – the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS), B.Ya. Vladimirtsov described Mongolian and Oyrat manuscripts. At the same time he continued to supplement the Asiatic Museum collection and bought 134 manuscripts and xylographs. Vladimirtsov’s research interests covered all aspects of Mongolian culture – history, literature, languages. The range of written sources of Mongolian literature, purchased by him, is equally wide. The Conference will focus on issues related to Mongolian Studies, the study of Mongolian, Tibetan manuscripts and xylographs, the written heritage of Central Asia, and archival materials of B.Ya. Vladimirtsov.

Traditional subjects of the Conference focusing on the study of Oriental written heritage remain unchanged: codicology; formation history of schools of copyists/calligraphers; artistic decoration of manuscripts; structure and decoration of early printed books and xylographs of the Orient; epigraphy; sphragistics; numismatics; history of discovery and subsequent publication of manuscripts; formation of modern manuscript collection; current issues of manuscript conservation and restoration.

The working languages of the Conference are Russian, English, Chinese.

The following issues will be discussed during the Conference:

1. Oriental manuscripts and their study;
2. Current issues of paleography and codicology of the written heritage of the Orient;
3. Contributions by manuscript scholars of Russia and other countries to the study of Oriental manuscript traditions;
4. Expeditions in Asia and archaeography of the written heritage of the Orient;
5. Activities of modern centers of research and conservation of Oriental manuscripts;
6. Conservation and restoration of the written heritage of the Orient.

Online participation is possible.
Transportation and accommodation expenses of participants from other cities are not covered by the IOM RAS.

The application should include the following information:

Information about the participant (full name, place of work and position, academic degree, academic title, e-mail address) in English;
Presentation topic and a brief abstract (in English);
Participation format (offline, online).

Please submit your application and a brief presentation abstract (200 words maximum in English) by March 31, 2024 to the following email: manuscript.conf.iom@mail.ru

Conference organizing committee