“Looking Forward to Receiving Portraits of Zhivago”: Correspondence Between U.G. Ivask and A.V. Selivanov (1907—1911)

The article introduces into scientific circulation the correspondence between figures of Russian book culture U.G. Ivask (1878—1922) and A.V. Selivanov (1851—1915), covering the years 1907—1911. It includes 16 letters held in the personal archival collections of the addressees in the State Archive of the Ryazan Region and the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library. The central theme of their epistolary communication during this period was the history of the Zhivago family, which was closely associated with Ryazan. A descendant of this family on the female line was A.A. Ivask, the wife of U.G. Ivask. While preparing an extensive genealogical work on the Ivask family and their relatives, U.G. Ivask paid special attention to the Zhivago family, many of whom made important contributions to the social and cultural life of Russia. A.V. Selivanov, a native of Ryazan, was closely associated with the local intelligentsia. It was from him that U.G. Ivask requested information about the lifespans and activities of some representatives of the Zhivago family. Through the mediation of A.V. Selivanov, U.G. Ivask acquired two portraits of members of the Zhivago family, which were later described in the brochure Collection of Family Portraits of U.G. Ivask (Moscow, 1911). The correspondence also reflected the correspondents’ bibliophilic interests. They discussed the start of publication of U.G. Ivask’s bibliographic index, Private Libraries in Russia, in the journal Russian Bibliophile.