The L.N.Tolstoy State Museum is one of the oldest literary museums. It was set up by the Tolstoy Society, a public organization in Moscow in 1911. After the Great October Soсialist Revolution it became a state museum (1920). By decree of the government it became the centre for the preservation of the writer's manuscripts, pictorial materials, mementos, books by Tolstoy and about Tolstoy. The literary display devoted to the writer's life and work takes up light halls in the Museum, which is housed in a mansion built in 1817-1822 by the architect A.G.Grigoryev. Displayed in the halls are the Museum's rich mitative art and memorial collections.