THE ACCOUNT BOOK OF SIMBIRSK GOVERNMENT OFFICE OF 1665–1667 AS A SOURCE FOR STUDYING THE MATERIAL SUPPORT OF DOCUMENTATION AND ARCHIVAL ACTIVITIES OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT BODIES

DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2025-6-2-83-93

УДК 930.25

ББК 63.211

Vladimir G. TKACHENKO

Key words

office management, government offices, account book of Simbirsk government office, document storage.

Abstract

Back in the pre-Soviet period, the opinion was established in the archivistics literature that the local government bodies of Moscow state were experiencing material problems, including those in the field of documentation and archival activities. Moreover, they were considered as a mass phenomenon characteristic of the entire departmental period. However, the examples given in scientific papers are hardly sufficient to draw conclusions about the extent of cases described in them, and even more so for categorical judgments about the entire XVII century. In addition, the sources available at that time, which contained information, if not refuting their opinion, at least allowing them to consider this problem from a different perspective, fell out of the field of view of the researchers or were ignored. Such sources include the account books of the government offices.

The purpose of the study is to assess the information potential of the account book of Simbirsk government office for 1665–1667. Since it had never previously been involved for studying the history of domestic record keeping and archival affairs, the article attempts to analyze it in terms of material support for the documentation and archival activities of local governments in the second half of the XVII century. At this, the task of detailed characterization of this source was not set.

Materials and methods. The research was based on the account book of Simbirsk government office of 1665–1667, published by A.N. Zertsalov in 1896, which became the first archaeographical publication of the newly created Simbirsk Governorate Scientific Archival Commission.

The research is based on the basic principles of historical knowledge – objectivity and historicism, which imply, among other things, the need to evaluate the period under study not only in terms of its historical features, but its capabilities as well. The historical and typological method was used to identify common approaches in matters of material support for record keeping and archives in the departmental management system. The analogy method was used to extrapolate the data obtained as a result of the study to the activities of government offices of the Middle Volga region.

The novelty of the research lies not only in revealing another facet of the information potential of the famous written monument, but also in filling in the gaps related to the issues of documentation and archival storage of documents in government offices in the territory of the Middle Volga region in the pre-Soviet period. The data obtained as a result of the study give the opportunity to form certain ideas about the attitude of central and local authorities to the material needs of regional government bodies. The scientific and practical significance of the article meets urgent problems of modern Russian archival science.

Results. In the structure of expenses of Simbirsk government office, aimed at providing management activities, four groups of costs can be distinguished: for purchasing stationery, for purchasing document storage facilities, for equipping workplaces of departmental employees, for maintaining buildings intended for the uyezd administration. As follows from the information provided in the source, significant amounts were spent for these purposes. In case of financial difficulties, the voivode resorted to borrowing funds from the local population under the obligation to repay the debt at a set time. The construction of residential and outbuildings for representatives of local authorities (voivodes, cosignatory) was provided due to distribution of the amount spent on the population of the town and the uyezd.

Conclusions. The conducted research indicates the important role of the account book of Simbirsk government office in studying the history of record keeping and archival affairs at the local level. The information available in it makes it possible to clarify, supplement and, possibly, revise the ideas that have developed in the literature about the material support and the local government as a whole, and its documentary and archival components. Although it is not necessary to talk about the prevalence of expenses similar to those in Simbirsk government office in other regional administrative centers without analyzing the entire body of sources on this problem, nevertheless, it is impossible to blame the local administration for lack of initiative, inaction or negligence, neither to deny the central government’s attention to its needs.

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Information about the author

Vladimir G. Tkachenko – Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Department of Documentation, Information Resources and Auxiliary Historical Disciplines, Chuvash State University, Russia, Cheboksary (vlagletka@mail.ru; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4111-404X).

For citations

Tkachenko V.G. The account book of Simbirsk government office of 1665–1667 as a source for studying the material support of documentation and archival activities of local government bodies. Historical Search, 2025, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 83–93. DOI: 10.47026/2712-9454-2025-6-2-83-93 (in Russian).

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