A copy of Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak’s book “From the Distant Past” is displayed on the round table in the room of the older brother of the writer, Nikolay Mamin. It was published by the “Library of Children’s Reading” publishing house, and printed at the Moscow printing house of Ivan Kushnerev Partnership in 1902.

The writer left his autograph and dedicatory inscription on the title page:

“From the Distant Past” tells about the childhood years of Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak and the life of his relatives. From the memoirs we can learn how the life of a provincial family in the third quarter of the 19th century was like.

In the book, Dmitry Mamin-Sibiryak recalled that his childhood “passed in the distant wilderness of the Ural Mountains, capturing the last years of the harsh serf regime, colored specifically with factory cruelty”. The writer’s father, Narkis Mamin, graduated from the Perm Theological Seminary and married a deacon’s daughter, Anna Stepanova. At first, they settled in the village of Egva near the town of Kudymkar, but after a while, they moved to a small working settlement of the Visimo-Shaitansky plant. There, Mamin received a church living and served as a priest.

According to memories, the father of the family differed from many priests: he was broad-minded, well-educated, and sincerely sought to help his parishioners.

The family had four children: sons Nikolay, Dmitry, Vladimir and the youngest daughter Yelizaveta. The Mamins were not rich, only the father worked. Despite this, the spouses lived amicably and happily. In the book, Mamin-Sibiryak wrote that Narkis Mamin often told children:

“From the Distant Past” describes the life and traditions of the Mamins: what books were read in the house; how they treated each other and even where their parents ordered furniture for furnishings. The writer’s recollections were combined with stories of events in the village where the family lived and descriptions of the rich Ural nature. Literary scholars noted that the language of the story contained many proverbs and sayings and seemed to imitate the lively speech of the Urals.