The year 1876 was a turning point in the life of the future book publisher. He married Yevdokiya Sokolova, the daughter of a wealthy Moscow pastry chef Ivan Illarionovich Sokolov. The photo taken in a photo studio shows members of the Sokolov family and the newlyweds.

The stepmother of Yevdokiya Ivanovna is dressed in a long-sleeve dress, with several rows of frills on the fluffy skirt. The woman’s right hand lies on her knee, the left one is bent, the elbow rests on the back of the chair. Yevdokiya’s mother, Maria Grigorievna, died when the children were still young, and her father remarried. Ivan Illarionovich Sokolov sits in the center, he is dressed in a double-breasted frock coat. In front of him is a small round table on three carved legs, with sheets of paper on top of it. Ivan Dmitrievich Sytin is next to Yevdokiya’s father, also in a double-breasted frock coat. Behind them are Yevdokiya and her younger brother Sergey Ivanovich Sokolov. Sergey has on a jacket and a vest. A chain with a key attached to it can be seen on the vest. Soon after the Sytins’ wedding, Sergey also got married — to a daughter of Generalov. His wife died young, leaving her husband with eight children, who were then taken care of by the Sytin family.

According to his son, Sergey Ivanovich Sokolov was a major shareholder of Sytin & Co; at one time he was even appointed director. He was a capable man,