From 1852 to 1855, Ivan Goncharov served as secretary in the Evfimiy Putyatin-led diplomatic mission on board the Pallada frigate. The mission’s objective was to conclude trade and border agreements with Japan. Even before the start of the voyage, Goncharov said that he would like to keep travel notes and then write a book based on them.
A collection of travel essays under the name “Frigate “Pallada” was published in 1858, three years after the voyage. But some of the notes were printed even before that, as soon as Goncharov returned to Saint Petersburg in 1855. Magazines published the articles that were ready for printing, not necessarily in their chronological order. Together with being featured in periodicals, the travel essays were also printed in brochures, and some of them became part of the book “The Russians in Japan in the early 1853 and the late 1854”. There, Goncharov described the customs and manners of the Japanese, their traditional cuisine, house structures, and course of diplomatic negotiations.
The letter dated April 20, 1856, proves the fact that Ivan Goncharov sent his publications to his Simbirsk relatives. It was sent by Goncharov to his other sister, Alexandra Kirmalova, née Goncharova. He wrote,
A collection of travel essays under the name “Frigate “Pallada” was published in 1858, three years after the voyage. But some of the notes were printed even before that, as soon as Goncharov returned to Saint Petersburg in 1855. Magazines published the articles that were ready for printing, not necessarily in their chronological order. Together with being featured in periodicals, the travel essays were also printed in brochures, and some of them became part of the book “The Russians in Japan in the early 1853 and the late 1854”. There, Goncharov described the customs and manners of the Japanese, their traditional cuisine, house structures, and course of diplomatic negotiations.
The Ulyanovsk Museum of Local History houses the author-signed copy of “The Russians in Japan in the early 1853 and the late 1854”. The inscription has faded over time, but the words are still easily discerned, “To Pyotr Aksentyevich and Anna Alexandrovna Muzalevsky from the brother.” Judging by the text, Ivan Goncharov gave the book to his younger sister Anna, who by that time had become a wife of a Simbirsk doctor Pyotr Muzalevsky.
The letter dated April 20, 1856, proves the fact that Ivan Goncharov sent his publications to his Simbirsk relatives. It was sent by Goncharov to his other sister, Alexandra Kirmalova, née Goncharova. He wrote,
