The article deals with the theme of scientific legacy of the eminent Russian historian, professor of St.-Petersburg University I.M.Grews (1860-1941), and of its possible influence on the contemporary and posterior scientific thought. The problem is very intricate and disputable. The author argues, firstly, that the second volume of the Grews' work «Essays on the history of Roman landownership» has never been written, and secondly, that this work remained practically unknown to western scholars and therefore couldn't produce any influence on them. So, the notorious principle «Rossica non leguntur» remained valid in this case too.