Simeon J. Bolan
Simeon Joachimovich Bolan | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Russia |
| Died | February 16, 1972 (aged 75) |
| Occupation(s) | Bookseller, bibliographer, librarian |
| Years active | 1926–c.1956 (bookseller), 1947–1956 (librarian) |
| Known for | Specializing in Russian-language literature, supplying Harvard University and the Library of Congress with Russian books, first Slavic and Eastern European Librarian at Columbia University Libraries |
Simeon Joachimovich Bolan (April 23, 1896 – February 16, 1972) was a New York-based bookseller originally from Russia, who specialized in Russian-language literature.
Biography
Around 1915, Bolan immigrated from Russia to the United States and later obtained American citizenship. His career in the book trade commenced in 1926, during which he acquired volumes from private dealers and Russian entities such as Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga and Amtorg. From 1928 through 1938, Bolan supplied approximately 8,000 volumes to the library of Harvard University.
Together with Israel Perlstein, Bolan played a key role in providing Russian books to the Library of Congress throughout the late 1920s and the 1930s. His inventory predominantly featured visual materials originating from imperial archives. While employed by Perlstein in 1941, he facilitated the sale of 10,000 books to the collector Paul M. Fekula. Additionally, Bolan was the principal vendor for Bayard L. Kilgour Jr., whose collection was eventually donated to Harvard's Houghton Library.
By around 1946, Bolan was collaborating with H.P. Kraus, creating catalogs focused on Russian literature. In 1957, following his request to travel to the Soviet Union, he became subject to an FBI inquiry. After concluding his rare book dealing activities, Bolan joined Columbia University Libraries in October 1947 as a Russian Bibliographer and Searcher. He was appointed as their inaugural Slavic and Eastern European Librarian and served until 1956. During his tenure at Columbia, he exchanged Lenin correspondence and Maxim Gorky documents for a collection of 15,000 Russian-language periodicals from a Russian institution. There were assertions that Bolan attempted to purchase Lenin’s manuscripts from Grigory Aleksinsky for $20,000.
In approximately 1956, Bolan returned to the book trade by establishing the Slavia Book Company located at 115 University Place.