The Mardigian Library of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) is pleased to announce the receipt of a significant donation of publications from the Catholicosate of Cilicia and the Armenian Prelacy of the Eastern USA.

This donation was initiated following the pontifical visit of His Holiness Catholicos Aram I to NAASR on October 11, 2024. During this visit, His Holiness requested that His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, arrange for publications issued by the Catholicosate of Cilicia to be sent to NAASR’s Mardigian Library. In particular, His Holiness noticed that the library lacked volumes of the series Matenagirk‘ Hayots‘ (Armenian Classical Authors) as well as a number of the reprinted Houshamadeans (memorial books of Western Armenian cities and towns) were absent, and he expressed his wish to have complete sets of these important publications of the Catholicosate, among others.

Left to right: Very Reverend Father Hrant Tahanian, His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, and NAASR Mardigian Library Director Ani Babaian. Photo from www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org.

The donated collection completes a full set of fifteen volumes of Matenagirk‘ Hayots‘, a foundational scholarly series dedicated to classical Armenian texts and authors. Through his efforts, Zaven Yegavian, long-time head of the Armenian Department of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, in collaboration with the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, brought together, for the first time in Armenian literary history, original manuscripts documenting Armenian bibliographies from the 5th through the 18th centuries.

One of the Mardigian Library’s special sections is the Hushamadean Room, featuring books on histories of now-destroyed Armenian villages and towns. Around the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, His Holiness Aram I undertook the republication of a many of these important volumes, providing the original text as well as newly created indices for each. Among the titles now added to the NAASR collection are reprints of Patmut‘iwn Ant‘ēpi Hayots‘ (History of the Armenians of Aintab, 2013), Patmu‘tiwm Tarōni Ashkharh (History of the World of Daron, 2013), K‘ēsap (2015), Patmut‘iwn Hay Kesarioy (History of Armenian Gesaria, 2016), and Hishatakaran Rumtikini (Memorial of Rumdigin, 2017).

The donation also includes publications authored by His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, whose scholarly and pastoral writings have had a lasting impact on modern Armenian theology, church life, and ecumenical thought. These works, including Issues and Perspectives (2013), A Journey of Faith, Hope and Vision: The Ecumenical Journey of His Holiness Aram I (2010), Pour un Monde Transformé (2008), and L'Église Face aux Grands Défis (2002), significantly strengthen the library’s resources in theology, church history, and contemporary Armenian intellectual discourse.

Left to right: His Eminence Archbishop Kegham Katcherian, His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, NAASR Director of Academic Affairs Marc A. Mamigonian, Very Reverend Father Hrant Tahanian. Photo from www.armenianorthodoxchurch.org.

In addition, the collection includes a range of publications by various authors, encompassing studies in Armenian history, theology, literature, art and architecture, cultural heritage, and regional studies, such as Hariwrameak: K‘ēsapi Usumnasirats‘ Ěnkerut‘ean ew Noynanun Erkrordakan Varzharanin (Centennial: Kessap Educational Society and the Secondary School of the Same Name, 2018) by Hagop and Knar Manjikian; The Armenian Catholicosate of Cilicia: History, Treasures, Mission (2015), by Seta B. Dadoyan; the second volume of Nakhijewani Vimagrakan Zhaṛangut‘iwně (Lithographic Heritage of Nakhichevan, 2005) by Argam Ayvazyan; and Mayr Ts‘uts‘ak Hayerēn Dzeragrats‘: Metsi Tann Kilikioy Kat‘oghikosut‘ean (Mother Catalogue of the Armenian Manuscripts in the Collection of the Great House of Cilicia, 1984) by Anoushavan Tanielian.

As an independent research library dedicated to Armenian studies, NAASR continues to build its collections through meaningful collaborations with ecclesiastical and academic institutions. This generous contribution from the Catholicosate of Cilicia further strengthens the library’s mission to support research, scholarship, and public engagement, and NAASR expresses its deep gratitude to His Holiness Catholicos Aram I, His Eminence Archbishop Anoushavan Tanielian, Very Reverend Father Hrant Tahanian of St. Stephen’s Armenian Apostolic Church, and Dr. Vartan Matiossian, Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy.