NEW ROCHELLE, NY - A new work by George Bournoutian will appear by the end of the year. This large volume, entitled Armenians and Russia, 1626-1796: A Documentary Record, is composed of 525 pages, which include 440 original documents, 4 maps, detailed commentary and annotations, biographical notes, glossary, bibliography and index. Archival evidence of Armeno-Russian political and economic relations starts during the reign of the first Romanov Tsar, Alexei (1613-1645). The new study concentrates primarily on documents from Russian, Armenian, and Georgian archives. Most of the material deals with the 18th century -- a period referred to as "the last Dark Age" of Armenian history.

Bournoutian has managed to gather important new data on Armenian trade; the Armenian Church activity in Russia and the Caucasus; the Armenian volunteer squadrons in the Russian army; the correspondence of Israel Ori with Peter the Great, Etchmiadzin and the meliks of Karabagh; the correspondence of Joseph Emin with Etchmiadzin, Gandzasar, the meliks of Karabagh, Erekle, and Catherine the Great; the rivalry between Gandzasar and Etchmiadzin, the decline and rise of the Holy See in the 18th century; the repression of the Armenian Church in Russia during the reign of Empress Elizabeth; Armeno-Russian relations during the reign of Empress Catherine I, Anna, and Emperors Peter II and Peter III; and the emancipatory activities of the Armenians of Russia and the Caucasus during the long reign of Catherine the Great. The documents concerning Karabagh are especially significant, for they prove conclusively that Karabagh has been Armenian for the last four-five hundred years.

The volume, part of the Armenian Studies Series of Mazda Press, like its companion volumes by Bournoutian (The Chronicle of Abraham of Crete, the History of the Wars by Abraham of Erevan, and the History of Karabagh), is another primary source on the history of Armenia in the 18th century. Two other works in these series, The History of Aghuank, by Catholicos Esayi Hasan-Jalalian of Karabagh and David Bek, or the History of Ghapan are in preparation. Together, these annotated translations of primary sources should aid serious scholars in writing a definite history of Karabagh, the Meliks of Karabagh, as well as a political or socioeconomic history of Eastern Armenia in that century.

The volume will sell for $45 (plus shipping) beginning on January 1, 2001. A special pre-publication price of $35 (includes shipping) is in effect until the end of the year and can be purchased from Bournoutian, Department of History, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY 10801.