Handwritten Materials in Japanese from O.O. Rosenberg’s Personal Archive Kept at the IOM, RAS

Abstract

This article introduces several handwritten materials in Japanese from the personal archive of O.O. Rosenberg (1888–1919) now kept at the Archive of Orientalists, IOM, RAS. These handwritten texts reveal new details about O.O. Rosenberg’s interaction with Japanese Buddhist scholars and publishers before and after the publication of his two dictionaries in 1916 in Japan. In addition to academic activities, O.O. Rosenberg had to deal with financial and legal matters, maintained contacts with printing company staff, discussed various diplomatic procedures. He also had a wide network of contacts in Japan, including other foreigners. Relying on this network and his fluent knowledge of Japanese, handwritten Japanese in particular, O.O. Rosenberg was able to complete his publication projects successfully. This study presents O.O. Rosenberg’s dictionaries as an important component of the project led by Th.I. Stcherbatsky to restore the terminology of Sanskrit philosophical treatises. Future work plans outlined by the young scholar demonstrate his exceptional diligence and competence in matters of Oriental philology. All documents, translated from Japanese by A. Lushchenko, are published for the first time.