Outposts on the Imperial Frontier of Southern Ukraine from the Middle to the End of the 18th Century: Review of Sources

The aim of the article is to update, describe and systematize the documents of the fonds «Historical Materials» (F. II) and «The Archives of the St. Elizabeth Fortress» (F. IX), stored in the Institute of Manuscript of V. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine (IM VNLU). The documents relate to the history of outposts on the territory of so-called «Zadniprovsky places», New Serbia, Novoslobidsky Cossack Regiment, Novorossiya Governorate in the middle and the second half of the 18th century. The research methodology involves the use of the principles of historicism and positivism, methods of description, analysis and synthesis, classifi cation and systematization. The scientifi c novelty of the article is due to the high source value of documents refl ecting the structure, composition and activities of outpost teams, as well as the systematization of historiography, which contains introduced into scientifi c circulation documents of research fonds of the IM VNLU in the context of outpost history. Conclusions. These documents refl ect the main aspects of the organization of the outpost service, provide information about the location, subordination, management of outposts, the composition of outpost teams, give a clear idea of their main functions and activities. It can be used as a signifi cant addition to further study of the history of outposts, Haidamaks movement, processes at the border in the middle and the second half of the 18th century. At the same time the fonds of the IM VNLU need further research. In addition to the fonds, analyzed in this article, some documents on the history of outposts on the territory of «Zadniprovsky places», New Serbia, Novoslobidsky Cossack Regiment, Novorossiya Governorate in the middle and the second half of the 18th century potentially can be contained in the following fonds: «Collection of Manuscripts of the Odesa Society of History and Antiquities» (F. V), «Collection of St. Volodymyr's University» (F. VIII), «The Archive of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences – All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences» (F. X), «Polonska-Vasylenko Natalia Dmytrivna (1884-1973)» (F. 42).