Letters of Aurelio Palmieri to the Editors of the Theological Herald for 1905–1906

The publication introduces letters from Catholic priest Aurelio Palmieri, an employee of the Vatican Library, sent to the editorial board of the Theological Herald in 1905–1906. The letters are published in French with a Russian translation, commentary, and an introductory article providing the context of the beginning of the correspondence. After a personal visit to Russia, Palmieri became acquainted with Ivan Popov, who was at that time the Editor-in-chief of the Herald, and through him with the Secretary of the editorial board Sergei Smirnov. These contacts enabled Palmieri to anonymously publish a number of his articles in the Theological Herald, which largely became a matter of the published letters. Palmieri’s letters to I. V. Popov and S. I. Smirnov can contribute to the history of international academic ties among the staff of the Moscow Theological Academy. One of the main academic lines of these ties was S. I. Smirnov’s dissertation on the spiritual father of the ancient Eastern Church. On the one hand, Palmieri made a certain contribution to S. I. Smirnov’s work on his dissertation by recommending and giving him books by Catholic and Protestant scholars. On the other hand, he in a way “opened” Smirnov’s thesis to the Western academic world: having familiarised himself with S. I. Smirnov’s texts, Palmieri made several communications about them to theological journals in France and Italy. Finally, the letters provide at least some insight into Palmieri’s own scholarly interests.