The Rumyantsev Museum evolved from the personal library and historical collection of Count Nikolay Rumyantsev (1754–1826). Its origin was in St. Petersburg in the Rumyantsev house or mansion, building number 44 on the English Embankment overlooking river Neva. After Nikolay died in 1826, his brother Sergei converted the house into a museum. It was opened to the general public in 1831, initially for one day a week, and the remaining days were for study.
Maintenance difficulties were among the reasons for the shift of Rumyantsev Museum to Moscow, despite it being affiliated to the Public Library in Saint Petersburg since 1845. In 1862, Nikolay's collection was combined with others, including paintings from the Hermitage Museum, and renamed the Moscow Public Museum and Rumyantsev Museum. By 1917 there would be four name changes and the collection grew to 1.5 million items. This increased to 2.7 million in the next three years following an expropriation and nationalisation campaign. A number of notable people used the library such as Dmitri Mendeleev, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy.
In 1921 the museum and library were administratively and formally separated. A second deposit copy was permitted. In 1924, weeks after the death of Lenin, despite there being some contenders for Lenin's legacy such as the Public Library in Saint Petersburg, Rumyantsev Museum was reorganized as the Lenin Library. The Rumyantsev library became a part of the Lenin Library while other holdings were dissolved among the Tretyakov Gallery, Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and the State Museum of Oriental Art among others. The Lenin Library would go on to become the Russian State Library in 1992.
History
St. Petersburg (1828–1861)
On the death of Count Nikolay Rumyantsev in 1826 his brother Count inherited his property. Sergei knew that his brother Nikolay had wanted his personal art and book collection to be accessible to society. For this he decided to use the , located on the English Embankment in St. Petersburg, where Nikolay's collections were already stored. The Rumyantsev Museum was established in 1828. A decree was signed on 22 March 1828 regarding its establishment. The collection was gifted to the government. It was opened to the general public in 1831; initially one day a week for the general public and the remaining days for scholars.
The museum's collections, evolving from Count Nikolay Rumyantsev's own, included books and manuscripts, art, coins, medals, items from Russian voyages and circumnavigations, and from places such as the Museum of Antiquities in Vilnius. The collection of valuable books totaled to about 29,000 while other items numbered in the hundreds. The library included books from between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. In his lifetime Rumyantsev had funded expeditions and excavations across the world. He also personally sent people across Russia to find books. Employees including a librarian and bibliographer helped Rumyantsev amass his collection. Assistant's included Friedrich von Adelung who was known for collecting foreign reports on Russia. Collaborators included Alexander Vostokov and Eugene Bolkhovitinov. Students of history such as Nikolay Karamzin used these historical resources.
An architect was involved in the conversion of the house(s) into a museum. It was at this stage in the mid-1830s when 12 columns were added to the front built up from the first floor. A pediment was added with sculpting by Ivan Martos. The sculpting on the pediment is inspired by mythology connected with Mount Parnassus, Apollo-Musagets, Mnemosyne and the Muses, a shout-out to the buildings' purpose as a museum as well as a reference to Rumyantsev. At a later date the pediment was engraved with the words of Nikolay, "for (the) good (of) enlightenment", also translated as "for the benefit of education", with the entire engraving reading as, "From the State Chancellor Count Rumyantsev for the good enlightenment" (Russian: ).
Since 1845 the Rumyantsev Museum was affiliated with the Imperial Public Library in St. Petersburg. Dmitry Buturlin, the director of the Imperial Public Library, was the museum director. Vladimir Odoevsky was actively associated with the library for about 15 years and during its shift to Moscow, continued as the library director. During the last few years of the museums' life in St. Petersburg the maintenance of the library proved difficult.
In 1863 the Rumyantsev house was sold to the editor of a newspaper. Further changes were made to the house by successive owners. 1930s onwards the house was used by the Museum of the History of Leningrad, now the State Museum of the History of Saint Petersburg.
Moscow (1862–1924)
