 Strengthening Modern Greek Collections
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The Library of The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study
of Hellenism
Janet Coles
The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism
The Vryonis Center
The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism is
a private, non-profit institute devoted to the study of the historical
evolution of Greek civilization. The Center, which was established
over 15 years ago, brings together scholars, artists, critics and
professionals, who collaborate to promote an international approach
to the study and preservation of Greek history and culture, ancient
through modern.
The Library
Pivotal to the Center's mission is its Library, which is widely
recognized as an important resource for Greek studies. The library's
holdings include main collections of monographs and serials; special
collections of rare books, manuscripts and artifacts; a non-print
media collection, including photographs, videotapes, audio tapes
and compact discs, microfilm/fiche, maps, posters and computer
software; and a small but important collection of archives. These
collections are interdisciplinary in nature, pertaining to Greek,
Balkan, Slavic and Middle Eastern history, literature, language,
art, anthropology, law, music, philosophy, sociology, economics,
political science, religion and folklore.
Main Collection
The main collection numbers about 65,000 volumes at this time.
About 30 percent of this collection is in Modern Greek; another
25 percent is in English. About 20 percent is in Slavic languages,
including Bulgarian, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian. The rest is in
a variety of Western European and Middle Eastern languages, including
German, French, Italian, Turkish, Armenian, Persian and Arabic.
The collection includes about 650 serial titles, with 143 serials
as current subscriptions.
This collection is especially strong in the areas of Byzantine
and Ottoman history and civilization, and in the history and culture
of the modern Greek state, Cyprus and the Balkans. Special emphasis
is also given to the history and culture of Greek Americans and
the Greek diaspora in English-speaking countries.
Special Collections
Rare books. The Library's rare book collection is comprised
of three main categories of material. The first is early editions
in ancient Greek of classical works, including Arrianus' De
Expeditione Alexandri (Basel, 1539); Eustathios' Parekvolai
eis ten Homerou Iliada kai Odysseian (Basileae, 1560);
Homer's Ilias (London, 1591); and a series of critical editions
of classical works edited by Adamantios Koraes (dating from the
late 18th and early 19th centuries). The second is early works
in Modern Greek on the Greek War of Independence and the establishment
of the modern Greek state. Examples of these include Kodix ton
nomon (Hydra, 1824); Andreas Mamoukas, Ta kata ten anagennesin
tes Hellados (Peraia, 1839-1852); and Praktika ton synedriaseon
tes Voules (Athena, 1846). The third category is best described
as ancient Greece and the Levant through modern eyes. Examples
of this are Voyages du Chevalier Chardin en Perse (Paris,
1811); William Hamilton, Memorandum on the subject of the Earl
of Elgin's pursuits in Greece (London, 1811); and Connop Thirdwall, A
history of Greece (London, 1835). The rare book collection
numbers about 1500 volumes at this time.
Manuscripts and artifacts. The Library's collection of
manuscripts and artifacts has grown substantially in the past three
years. Articles from this collection span the entire range of Greek
civilization, from antiquity to the present. Examples include an
Attic red-figure vase (ca. 400 BC); a bronze winged victory statue
(ca. 450-200 BC); an icon of St. Spyridon, from Corfu (ca. 1770-1800);
a manuscript in handwritten Ottoman Turkish concerning a legal
agreement, signed by the Greek inhabitants of Ottoman Crete (ca.
1890); and a silver-framed photo of Anthony Capodistrias, with
his father and mother (ca. 1920).
Non-Print Media
Photographs and videotapes. The photographic material is
strongest in the areas of 20th century Greek history, notably Greece
during World War II and the Greek Civil War; and the life of Greeks
in Asia Minor in this century. The videotape collection is comprised
of some 150 videotapes covering various aspects of Greek history
and culture. Examples include the In the Paths of the Gods series
from Films for the Humanities and Sciences; the Vyzantine Historia collection
from the Hidryma Meleton Lamprake in Greece; and various series
on modern Greek and Greek American history and culture, including Hellada
1453-1940 from ATG Ltd. in Athens and a series of talk shows
profiling the Greek American community in the United States, from
GOTelecom.
Audio, microfilm/fiche, maps and posters. Audio resources
include recordings of Greek folk music, music from classical Greek
composers, church music and liturgical chants, and contemporary
Greek popular music. The Library also has a large collection of
U.S. dissertations and Greek government documents on microfilm,
and classical and Byzantine works on fiche. The map collection
includes historical and contemporary maps of Southern and Eastern
Europe, the Balkans, Cyprus, the Middle East, and Russia. The poster
collection consists of some 500 posters, covering themes from ancient
Greece to modern Greek political life.
Computer disc. Examples of important resources on computer
disc are the Database of Classical Bibliography; the Thesaurus
Linguae Graecae; Hagia Sophia (interactive CD-ROM);
and the Dumbarton Oaks Hagiography Database of the Ninth and
Tenth Centuries.
Archives
The library's archival collections are strongest in the areas
of 20th century Greek and Greek American history and
culture. Notable archival holdings include the Basil J. Vlavianos
papers, which cover political and social developments in the Greek
American community over the past 50 years; the Panhellenic Emergency
Committee archives, useful for the study of the Turkish arms embargo
of the 1970s and Greek American lobbying activities; and the Costas
Couvaras archive, which covers the German occupation of Greece
during World War II and the Greek Civil War.
Access
The Library is open to the public Monday through Friday, 9 AM
to 5 PM. While the library does not lend materials, it makes space
available to visitors for research during open hours. In addition,
the library catalog will soon be available on the World Wide Web
(http://www.glavx.org).
The Speros Basil Vryonis Center for the Study of Hellenism
3140 Gold Camp Drive, Suite 50
Rancho Cordova, California 95670
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