The Penza Literature Museum houses a small collection of illustrations to the books by Pyotr Ivanovich Zamoysky. They were created by the graphic artist Boris Ivanovich Lebedev (1910–1997).

This is an illustration to the novella “The Inn.” It depicts a scene from a Penza inn. The scene is based on an episode from the writer’s life that took place in 1911. Pyotr Zamoysky recalled in his memoirs that most of the merchants who stayed at the inn were people he knew. Some of them were considerate and well-read individuals. Zamoysky recounted an interesting episode that occurred when he was working as a waiter. One day, he read his poems to the fish merchant Ivanushkin, which greatly impressed the witnesses with their heartfelt and vivid nature. The next day, Zamoysky received a commission to write a poem for Natalya, the bride of the merchant’s nephew. He described in his autobiography that it was an easy task for him, and the poem was received well. This was the first time that Pyotr Zamoysky was paid for his literary work. He received three rubles and sent the money to his parents to buy bread.

The artist Boris Lebedev was born in the village of Dubrovsky, Tobolsk Governorate, on August 1, 1910. Between 1925 and 1929, he studied at the Saratov Art and Industrial College. After graduation, he worked as a graphic artist for the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper and the Diafilm factory. On June 20, 1941, Boris Lebedev came to Penza. The writer Vladimir Lavrentyevich Sadovsky invited him to design decorations for the centennial anniversary of Mikhail Lermontov’s death. He headed the artistic department at the Stalin Banner newspaper in Penza and organized the publication of anti-fascist caricatures. During the war, Boris Lebedev designed and published two albums, “He Went to the Front, ” and “The Front and the Rear.” Other works were dedicated to Vladimir Lenin and the literary critic Vissarion Belinsky. Boris Lebedev also illustrated books by such authors as Korney Chukovsky, Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Korolenko, Pyotr Zamoysky, and others.