Stages of formation of collection of hand-written folklore materials in the funds department of the National museum of the Komi Republic

The hand-written folklore materials collected in the 1918-1936-th are kept in the Funds Department of the National Museum of the Komi Republic. At the moment the hand-written fund totals 21 volumes: each having its title, table of contents, sheets are numbered. Basing on dating of the collected texts, notes of collectors, 3 stages of formation of folklore collection of hand-written materials were established.The first group of sources consists of 12 volumes and chronologically covers texts of 1918-1931. Records belong both to pupils of schools, rural correspondents of the literary and art monthly Ordym (Track) in the Komi language, and to activists and correspondents of the Society on studying the Komi land (formed in 1922).The second group consists of five volumes which include materials of students of the Komi Teachers Training Institute. Records were made in 1934-1936 during folklore practice. G. A. Startsev, ethnographer, Head of Chair of History, directed the work on collecting the material.The third group of sources consists of four volumes prepared by "folklore group"guided by P.G.Doronin, writer. Four volumes (including the second copy) are made on the basis of earlier published texts and materials of correspondents ofthe Society on studying the Komi land (chronological frames: middle of XIX century - the 1930-s). The prepared folklore collection was not published.The hand-written fund is the very first large collection of folklore materials inthe Komi language. The materials reflect formation of methodology of collecting of folklore and ethnographic texts, expansion of the collected genres. Hand-written volumes give a chance to analyze the condition of folklore tradition in the first third of XX century.