Experience in the systematization of secular literature by Protestant authors in the "Rare Book" collection of the State Museum of the History of Religion.

The article is dedicated to the study and classification of previously unexamined book monuments and the works contained within them, which are part of the collection of Protestant literature from the "Rare Book" fund of the State Museum of the History of Religion. The religious views of the authors—scholars, travelers, collectors, doctors, politicians, and lawyers—significantly influenced the content of their works. In turn, the ideas presented in these writings reflected major changes occurring in religion, various fields of science, and art, as well as influencing the formation of new perspectives and ideas that became rooted in the European religious and cultural paradigm. The Protestant book monuments of the State Museum of the History of Religion, due to their wide confessional and genre diversity, can be highlighted as a unique collection that requires study and can be utilized in the museum’s exhibition and educational work. The research employed quantitative (this method helped specify the number of works, from which the most important examples were selected), historical-typological (which allowed for the systematization of the selected works), hermeneutic (directly related to working with the source—the texts of the selected works) methods, as well as methods of synthesis, induction, and deduction. The experience of studying, describing, and systematizing secular literature by Protestant authors in the "Rare Book" fund of the State Museum of the History of Religion shows that: 1) works of both religious and secular nature constitute an integral part of the unique book collection of Protestant literature in the Museum 2) the wide thematic, linguistic, and geographical diversity of secular works created by Protestant authors helps fill several gaps of a historical, political, bibliographic, and religious studies nature 3) the Protestant book collection of the Museum (both as a whole and within the framework of a conditional division into "religious" and "secular" works) is unique not only within the specific museum but also on a national scale 4) the previously unexamined book collection requires further research for use in the scientific, educational, and exhibition activities of the State Museum of the History of Religion.