ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 1996 by Richard L. Ney This tour guide is prepared for personal information-use only. Absolutely no part of this tour guide, its complete form, or the information contained within it may be reprinted, copied or otherwise duplicated for the purposes of resale or commercial gain. Any duplication or copying of this guide, any part thereof, and the information contained must receive the express permission of the author.

Planning Your Trip 2

This is by no means a complete list, as there are tens of thousands of books on Armenia and the Armenian culture. And we expect we will get many suggestions to update this reading list in the near future.

Book Sources In Armenia
Bookshops have had a hard time since 1989: the lack of paper has made even the most rudimentary printing extremely expensive, and many books which would be considered historically interesting (we’re talking Communist era here), were burned by locals during the last four winters (two of which were among the coldest this century) in order to heat their homes. There is still a common practice in State ministries and organizations to use copies of Communist manuals as toilet paper. Those books that do remain are considered valuable and are sold at premium prices in the few shops that have managed to stay open. Armenians love to read, and they love their books, so those they will part with will be either sold to earn income, or cherished treasures given as gifts. If an Armenian gives you a book, it is given with greatest respect, and should be treated as such.

Nevertheless, books, magazines and journals of all languages can be found at the Vernisage in Yerevan, and in book shops in the major cities and towns. A few have books in English, but they are mostly books printed abroad and sent to Armenians to help them learn the language. One book shop on Mashtot’s Avenue in Yerevan has a collection of Nancy Drew and Harlequin Romances nestled in among Russian and Armenian history, art and manuscript jewels. Art books, books about manuscripts and churches, architecture and Khachkars in English sell for marginally less than high quality art books do in the West. Russian and Armenian language books are cheaper, and may have the same pictures you are looking for.

Remember that any rare book or any book more than 100 years old is considered a part of the National treasure and cannot be taken out the country.

Yellow and White and Read All Over
SPIUR company ((374-2) 56-35-05), 10, Pavstos Biusand, Yerevan 375010, publishes a Russian language "Sparvochnik Armenii" (ÑÐÀÂÎ×ÍÈÊ ÏÐÅÄÏÐÈßÒÈÉ È ÎÐÃÀÍÈÇÀÖÈÉ ÀÐÌÅÍÈÈ) and an English Business Pages. Both are listings of companies which have bought advertising (a reasonable assessment of who can afford to stay in business long enough to use their services), and can be searched by type of company. Both are free and available at their office. The Vertex Yellow Pages ((374-2) 58-42-34, fax: (374-2) 58-31-97), 3 Amirian St., 3rd floor, Yerevan, Armenia, is published in both Armenian and English (about $40). It does not contain the most up-to-date information (numbers and addresses change more often then they publish new editions), but it has a good introduction section to Yerevan and includes a bus plan.

Business Guides
The Ministry of Economy publishes a Business Guide to Armenia in Russian, Armenian and English. Good information for those seeking to turn their tourism into a long-term investment.

The U.S. Embassy Country Commercial Guide is good starter for anyone interested in pursuing business investment or doing business in Armenia, though it (naturally) focuses on American business questions. They still quote 1994 data to support their 1996 assessments, but still full of information. To obtain a copy, contact

BISNIS Information Center in the USA
((202) 482-4655, Fax: (202) 482-2293,
E-mail: BISNIS@USITA.GOV),
Room 7413, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC 20230;

or visit the BISNIS center at the US Embassy in Armenia
((3742) 52-46-61, (3742) 52-16-11 AT&T: (3742) 155-144; AT&T Tel/fax: (3742) 151-138),
18 Baghramian Street, Yerevan 375019.

They also have a country commercial guide home page on Arminco.

Book Sources Outside Armenia
General Interest
Catalogues and/or books can be found at the

In The USA/Canada,

Mamigonian Foundation
((301) 460-0353),
14513 Woodcrest Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20853, USA;

the Center for Armenian Research and Publication,
University of Michigan-Dearborn
((313) 593-5181),
4901 Evergreen Rd., Dearborn, MI 48128, USA;

Armenian Reference Books
(E-mail: hamoarb@earthlink.net);

Armenian General Benevolent Union
((212) 765-8260, 765-8208),
31 W. 52nd St. 10th Floor, New York, NY 10019;

the National Association for Armenian Studies & Research
((617) 489-1610),
395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02178, USA;

Zoryan Institute for Contemporary Armenian Research and Documentation, Inc.
((617) 497-6713 fax: (617) 628-7880),
19 Day Street, Cambridge, MA 02140, USA and

the Zoryan Institute of Canada, Inc.
((416) 785-8597, fax: (416) 785-5434),
1858 Ave. Road #200, North York, Ontario, Canada M5M 3Z5.

Brentano’s, Border Books and the larger Walton Books have Foreign Studies sections which carry books on Armenian subjects. Sometimes they carry the odd travelogue stuffed in the Travel section.

In England, try Collets International Shop
(071) 734-0782,
129 Charing Cross Rd., London,

for an exhaustive collection of books, magazines, maps and music from and about the CIS/Russia. Armenia is usually stuck in another larger treatise or map. Also try Traveler’s Bookshop at 25 Cecil Court, London, the Travel Bookshop at 13 Blenheim Crescent, London and Edward Stanford at 12-14 Long Acre, London.

In Paris, Shakespeare and Company, on rue du Huchette (between rue du Saint Jacques and rue St. Julien, M: Saint Michele), has a remarkable little collection of books about and by Armenians (in French and Armenian). Collector’s items, so expensive, but you can browse at leisure.

Language
Many of the organizations listed in this section can provide books or tapes to learn Armenian (ask for Eastern Dialect), but the

Mamigonian Foundation
((301) 460-0353),
14513 Woodcrest Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20853, USA,

specifically lists self-instructional materials in Armenian language and civilization as an integral part of its work.

Music
A new 7 disk CD-ROM set of traditional Armenian music (some recorded at villages in the regions) has been released by Celestial Harmonies Music. The music set includes a handsome and informative booklet featuring the history and development of music in Armenia.

In the international section of larger music stores you can sometimes find Armenian music (look under Armenia, Middle East, USSR, even Turkey--they still don’t know where the country is). Some of it is Western Armenian recorded in the States, and some from the Republic.

Genealogy
The Armenian Genealogical Society
((801) 378-3043),
2219 East Thousand Oaks Blvd. #292, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362, USA,

lists some 3 million family records on microfilm, copies stored in Granite Mountain Storage Vault near Salt Lake City. Another organization also called Armenian Genealogical Society ((310) 854-0852) is not affiliated with the Thousand Oaks organization, and is at 542 N. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048.