ABSTRACT
This chapter contains information about the expeditionary activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Such aspects of the Academy's expeditionary activities as the formation of a set of accompanying documents have not previously received coverage in scientific literature. This chapter shows how the Academy of Sciences implemented its expeditionary programs, actively cooperating with various institutions, companies, and academic institutions both within the country and abroad. It analyzes all stages of the organization of the expedition – from the submission of the application to the preparation of reports – while also discussing the history of financial support for the expedition. This chapter is based on the analysis of numerous archival sources, primarily from the St. Petersburg branch of the Archive of the Academy of Sciences and the Russian State Historical Archive. These materials allow us to comprehensively cover the history of the organization and financing of expeditions from the 18th to the first half of the 19th century.
This chapter shows that the study of documentation makes it possible to trace the system of organization of science in the Russian Empire, as well as its interdepartmental relations. It pays special attention to the study of the form and structure of the document itself, such as signature, addressee, date, and contains valuable information about the internal logic of moving documents. The author shows the processes of the formation of the document flow of the Academy of Sciences from the 18th to the 19th century.
