The collection was formed within the limits of a long period of time and institutional changes. The principle of its collection was originally laid down in the goals and tasks of the National Museum "Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship", set when it was created in 1953 and later, when it was expanded under the name of the National Museum.Bulgaria and the Slavic world". Since 1991, the latter has been part of the National History Museum.
In terms of time, the collection includes books with studies from the period of the formation of the Slavic community to the present day, and in terms of territory - with studies that cover 12 modern countries, some of which are in the EU. In addition to books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, albums are also listed as cultural values.
The collection was formed and enriched through purchased, received individual and group donations. In terms of its content and issues, it is distinguished by a huge diversity, which includes topics from all fields of knowledge. The collection has 2039 items of cultural value, mainly in Bulgarian, but there are also some in Russian, French, and German.
Given the diverse topics represented in the "Fund Library - Old", a complete categorization of the publications and type grouping is difficult to do, but more pronounced thematic accents can be indicated. Among them are:
History of the world; Origin of life; Religion; World Economy and World Politics; History of world and regional wars; History of Diplomacy; Soviet encyclopedias; History of France; History of the USSR, etc.
History of Bulgaria and the Bulgarian lands; Documents on Bulgarian history; Archive of the Revival; The Bulgarians in Bessarabia, Moravia, Timoshka; Wars of Bulgaria; Bulgaria's relations with Russia, Turkey, Austria, Serbia, the USSR, the Slavic world, etc.
Russo-Turkish War 1877/1878; The Bulgarian militia; The Siege of Pleven; Battles of Shipka; Monuments in Bulgaria; Memories of War Veterans; Anniversaries of Liberation; Eastern Question; Illustrated war chronicle; Albums, etc.
History of Slavism; Relations of the Slavs with Byzantium and Russia; Slavic councils; Slavic calendars; Slavic magazines: "Slavic Debate Library", "Slavic Age", "Slavic Peace", "Slavians", "Slavic Voice", etc.; Notices of the St.-Petersburg Slavic charity society, etc.
Political, economic, philosophical, religious, health, etc. topics; Works of Al. Herzen, N. Chernishevsky, G. Plekhanov, F. Engels, K. Mars, T. Pavlov, D. Blagoev, V. Lenin, Y. Stalin, Il. Ehrenburg, V. Lunkevich, etc.
Newspapers and magazines from the period of the Renaissance, New and Recent history, including: "Danube Dawn", "Danube Swan", "Svoboda", "Svyat", "Iskra", "World Mirror", "Izvestia", "Nauchna" thought", "View", "Literary voice", "Friendship".
