The displayed poetry collection is open on a page with a poem that Prince Pyotr Vyazemsky wrote in 1828 and dedicated to his Penza muse Pelageya Vsevolozhskaya, née Klushina.
Pyotr Vyazemsky came from a wealthy and noble family. His father Prince Andrey Vyazemsky brought together a group of outstanding personalities, including writers, poets, patrons of the arts, and diplomats. They often gathered at Vyazemsky’s house in Moscow or the family seat in Ostafyevo near Moscow.
In 1815, Pyotr Vyazemsky met Alexander Pushkin, a young student at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, and became his faithful friend and close associate for the next two decades.
Due to his close ties with the participants of the Decembrist Revolt, Pyotr Vyazemsky was closely watched by the censors and the police and was forced to move far away from the Russian capital. The poet stayed with his relatives in Serdobsk, Penza Governorate. He cherished his memories of Penza which he called “the Tsar City of Paris on the map of my heart.”
He half-jokingly advised his diplomat friend
Alexander Bulgakov,