Pyotr Yershov, a Russian poet and prose writer, was born in 1815 in the village of Bezrukovo, Ishim District, Tobolsk Governorate. Yershov became famous after an excerpt from his fairy tale ‘The Little Humpbacked Horse’ was first published in 1834 with a complimentary note by Osip Senkovsky. Senkovsky was an authoritative literary critic, and back then was the publisher of the ‘The Reader’s Library’ magazine.

In that same year, 1834, the tale was published in its entirety as a separate book. It presented the story of Ivan, a peasant’s son, who went to look for the magical Firebird. At the same time, an anonymous review appeared in the ‘The Reader’s Library’ magazine, which critics determined to be a review by Senkovsky. “Our readers, surely, have not forgotten the pleasure given to them by the first part of the poem printed in the Reader”s Library”, wrote an anonymous reviewer, “now they can triple that pleasure: all three parts of it have been printed in as a special book. It was done to properly praise the first pledge of the young, charming and talented man’s future successes; the Russian public need not say more”.

During the author’s lifetime, the tale was republished seven times, and Yershov edited his tale several times. The fourth edition became the definitive version and is now part of the school curriculum in Russia. The fifth edition was illustrated by Rudolf Zhukovsky, a Russian graphic artist who worked with Nikolay Nekrasov and Ivan Krylov. Lavrenty Seryakov engraved Zhukovsky’s illustrations. All subsequent books had the same drawings.

The character of the Humpbacked Horse was created by Yershov, but it was perceived as a folk tale, which led to many imitations and even literary forgery. In 1870-1898, about 40 counterfeit “Little Humpbacked Horses” were published with a total circulation figure of about 350,000 copies.