Baron Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall (1774–1856) was an outstanding orientalist, diplomat, and pioneer in the studies of history and philology of the Middle East. At the Library of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences, which is a department of the Library of the Academy of Sciences and at the same time the oldest and richest library of Oriental studies in Russia, there is a valuable and voluminous collection of works authored by the outstanding Austrian Orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall devoted to various spheres of knowledge, mostly history and literature. This article examines the history of one of the most important research works by J. von Hammer-Purgstall, i.e. his ten-volume Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches (1827–1835). Referring to numerous sources, this work covers the historical period from the establishment of the Ottoman Empire to the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca of 1774 and is considered to be the first modern historical synthesis. The Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches has not lost its relevance today, and, despite some serious mistakes, continues to arouse admiration thanks to new information introduced by the author. His memoirs Erinnerungen aus meinem Leben. 1774–1852 occupy a special place among a large number of similar works kept in the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In his memoirs, J. von Hammer-Purgstall provides a detailed description of his childhood, talks about his education in the Oriental Academy, and the languages he learnt there. Further along the text, the author gives an account of his diplomatic life in Constantinople, and the Austrian ‘diplomatic ins and outs’, portrays Western and Russian diplomats, as well as a number of Turkish figures. The value of the works by J. von Hammer-Purgstall increases even more due to the fact that they are based on original materials and sources, some of which are known today due to his findings.