Maxim Gorky gave this copy of his novel “The Life of Matvei Kozhemyakin” to the singer and his close friend Feodor Chaliapin. The book is marked with the initials “F.Ch.” and Chaliapin’s personalized library stamp. It was donated to the museum by the singer’s daughter Irina Feodorovna Chaliapina-Baksheyeva in 1967.

The book’s first edition was printed by the Ivan Ladyzhnikov Publishers in Berlin. The publishing house was established with the support of Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Lenin, and Vladimir Bonch-Bruyevich. It protected Russian authors’ rights in Europe and printed mainly Marxist literature and works by Gorky and democratic writers of the Znanie publishing company.

The Russian philosopher Georgy Plekhanov gave his opinion about the novel “The Life of Matvei Kozhemyakin” the very year it was published in his letter to Gorky,

Using the main character of the novel “The Life of Matvei Kozhemyakin”, Maxim Gorky showed the passivity and apathy of the Russian people as a national drawback, which must be dealt with. The writer believed that civic engagement and community involvement are every person’s duty.

Gorky paid great attention to depicting life in the “uyezd nests of Russian close-mindedness” and the social psychology and worldview of the reactionary bourgeoisie at the turn of the 20th century. The text contains many sayings, legends, tales, superstitions, and rituals. In a lively manner, Gorky describes street fights and scenes of persecution of the Tatars, as well as cites vivid slang expressions and speech of ordinary Russian people.

“They were going to herd a sheep but then forgot to buy one”, says one of the characters in the story, discussing God and faith. Each personality, described by Gorky, is drastically unique, yet at the same time shows the influence of “ideas, traditions, and prejudices” of the social surroundings.