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.
