This monograph explores the corporate culture espoused by Russian professors in the first half of the 19th century. The volume consists of two parts: the analytical one and the collection of the never-before published sources that the authors introduce into the scholarly discourse and circulation. Vishlenkova et al. regard Russia’s academic community as a self-regulated mechanism. They analyze a wide range of archival material on a number of subjects, such as university autonomy, the means and ends of education, the debates over the limits of self-government and over the function and quality of scientific production, to name just a few. The authors are thus able to trace the birth of group solidarities, the complex interplay of conflicting loyalties and the rise of professional identity among the “Russian professors.” The book reveals how Russian scholars and educators worked to reclaim and interiorize their universities, the process that enriched these state-funded institutions with scenarios of their own.