September 2025 – The small but mighty Erowid archiving crew (staff and volunteers) who are cataloging books and documents at the Shulgins’ Farm finished going through another motherlode: Sasha’s office bookshelves. Besides books and lab notes, Sasha’s shelves hold unpublished manuscripts, collections of writings, and periodicals; coursework, student theses, and manuals; novelties, obscure forensic publications, a nearly comprehensive set of older articles on cannabis research (including the work by Shell done for Edgewood Arsenal), and clippings and photocopies dating back to the 1940s. In the last year, the Erowid crew has inventoried over 4,100 additional items, almost all from Sasha’s office. We documented enclosures (letters, postcards, and notes tucked into books) and unique items for scanning, as well as photographing book covers.
The majority of Erowid’s Shulgin Archiving Collection scanning was completed by the end of 2024, part of a ten-year triage and cataloging phase, when project co-lead Keeper Trout finished scanning all the contents of Sasha’s filing cabinets and boxes of files stored in the Barn. Trout is in the home stretch of scanning select items from the office bookcases, and re-photographing a small number of book covers. Fragile film, video, audio tapes, reel-to-reel recordings, slides and CDs are being professionally digitized in Albany, California. Many of the archive’s photos are securely stored at Erowid Center’s library, as we work to raise the funds to have them professionally scanned. We’ve sent a couple thousand out to test scanning companies, but won’t be able to get the majority digitized until additional funding is found.
As we sort photos and compile metadata about books and documents, we’ll be sharing highlights. Meanwhile, some of Erowid’s Shulgin Archiving crew have shared their thoughts on
the Archive and the experience of working with the collection.
“Volunteering on book cataloging for Erowid’s Shulgin Archiving project has been a great opportunity to create a full accounting of Ann and Sasha’s library. A dusty fun time that lead to some great additions to my own library, as I was able to find some of the interesting titles online to purchase, including a copy of the handwritten and illustrated Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, which was the original title of Alice in Wonderland; the old novels Black Opium by Claude Farrère and Cocaine by Pitigrilli, both with some great illustrations inside; and The Haight-Ashbury: A History, by Charles Perry. And working together with a great group of dedicated people was wonderful!”
— Oliver, volunteer since 2019
“Sorting through the contents of Sasha’s office was a particular joy. Not only for the incredible contents of his library, but also for the dazzling array of fun and witty posters and memorabilia covering the walls. Two items in particular stand out, both reflecting Sasha’s Russian heritage: a hilarious 60s era cartoon bear wearing an ushanka-hat with a caption admonishing the viewer not to discuss classified material over the phone; and my personal favorite, a handsome photo of doomed Tsar Nicholas II and his son the Tsarevitch Alexi (poor little guy).” — David B, volunteer since 2014
“There isn’t much that can get a group excited about getting up early on dreary winter days, but the mood at the Farm was always high. Though our work was dusty and drafty, it was never dull. Keyboards clicked and clacked at fever pitch, preserving every pertinent detail from the endless torrent of the Shulgin archives. Every so often, there would be a cry: “Inclusion!” A page would be bookmarked, or better still, a passage underlined. These were the moments that most interested me. The Archives are any psychedelic nerd’s dream collection. There are countless beautiful and strange first editions, many of which have handwritten notes for Ann and Sasha from the authors. It becomes very obvious after looking at the Archives how central Ann and Sasha were in the psychedelic underground. They seem to be everyone’s grandparents, with the endless collections of thank-you’s, happy birthdays, and happy anniversary notes to prove it. Even though I couldn’t talk to Ann or Sasha, they were still great at giving book recommendations.” — Alysiana, volunteer since 2025
“In anticipation of volunteering on Erowid’s Shulgin Archiving project, I expected to become familiar with Sasha’s library in a data-oriented way, but what ended up happening was that I got to learn about him as a human being with many interests and a soul beloved by the wonderful community he created.”
— Fiona, volunteer since 2025
“Being a part of this project 
felt like I was getting a glimpse into history. Getting to sift through endless pages of molecular formulas in Sasha’s handwriting nearly brought a tear to my eye despite barely understanding them. I remember finding a book that was noted as required reading by legendary underground guide Leo Zeff, and feeling like I had found a true treasure. However, my favorite part was being amongst a group of dedicated individuals who were always willing to share some knowledge or a funny story. The range of material catalogued was truly impressive and I hope that there are continued efforts to preserve and eventually share what the Shulgins collected over their lifetimes.” — Veronica L., volunteer since 2024
