Creation of the Fundamental Academic Edition «The Complete Collection of T. H. Shevchenko’s Works in Ten Volumes» during the Period 1919–1941: Historical and Source Research

In the article on the basis of the study of documents of archival fonds of the сentral state archives of Ukraine, the Archives of the Presidium of the NAS of Ukraine, the V. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine and scientific materials reconstructed the history of the initial development of several versions of the full collection of T. Shevchenko's works in ten volumes. The purpose of the article is to carry out a historical and source study to find out the peculiarities of the development of T. Shevchenko's studies as a scientific direction in the NAS of Ukraine and of attempts of compiling of a full collection of T. Shevchenko's works during the period from the NAS activity starting to the beginning of the German-Soviet War. The methodology is based on the combination of general historical methods, namely chronological, source and bibliographic analysis, heuristics of archival documents. Scientific novelty. For the first time, archival sources, published planning and reporting materials of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, press reports, and scientific materials are comprehensively analyzed for a detailed study of the history of the creation of the first versions of the volumes of the complete edition of T. Shevchenko's works by the academic community. The features of the preparation of volumes at different periods and difficulties of the publishing process are presented in detail. Conclusions. Based on the study of documents from archival institutions of various jurisdictions and scientific publications, it was established that work on publication did not cease throughout the interwar period of the twentieth century; the purpose and focus of this publication evolved from national-creative to an instrument for shaping Soviet ideology in Ukraine, as evidenced by the influence of the directives from governing bodies and the analysis of the socio-political situation in Ukraine. The censorship of T. Shevchenko's works became important evidence of ideological and political control in the fields of culture and science. The researched documentary resources contain considerable information potential for further research on the development of Shevchenko Studies.