‘Picturesque Russia’ is a multi-volume edition about life in the country at the end of the 19th century, which was published in 1895 under the general editorship of Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky.
The book was created in order to present a diverse picture of the Russian countryside and accompany it with high-quality illustrations. It also included an account of the many ethnic groups that inhabit our country. It describes their customs, clothing, housing, characteristics of daily life, industry and trade. Semyonov-Tan-Shansky wanted to acquaint readers with their beliefs, legends, epics, songs and other works of cultural and spiritual life.
The academic undertook the editorial and organizational work. At that time, he was vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and believed that the publication should not include any reprints or fiction articles. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky sought to include in the book ‘a number of true, artistic, understandable to everyone pictures of the life of our fatherland, present and past’. It contained a description of the Far North, Finland and the Baltic Region, the Kingdom of Poland, Moscow and the Caucasus, Turkestan and the Kyrgyz steppe.
Original essays and stories specially written for this multivolume work appeared on the pages of ‘Picturesque Russia’. Many researchers set out on expeditions to explore the areas the story is about.
The series ‘Picturesque Russia’ consists of 19 books that were prepared by the O. M. Wolf partnership in the 1870s. The entire collection includes more than six thousand pages, and the number of individual essays exceeds two hundred. The artistic part of the book includes 3815 illustrations, of which more than four hundred are full-page illustrations. Numerous woodcuts, zinc engravings, and photo zinc prints from life can also be found there.
In total, 550 thousand rubles were spent on the publication of these books. As authors, Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky attracted famous geographical scientists, historians, ethnographers and writers. In several volumes, he himself wrote large articles, mainly of economic and geographical nature. Furthermore, 423 people worked on the publication: typesetters, artists, engravers, photographers, bookbinders.
The book was created in order to present a diverse picture of the Russian countryside and accompany it with high-quality illustrations. It also included an account of the many ethnic groups that inhabit our country. It describes their customs, clothing, housing, characteristics of daily life, industry and trade. Semyonov-Tan-Shansky wanted to acquaint readers with their beliefs, legends, epics, songs and other works of cultural and spiritual life.
The academic undertook the editorial and organizational work. At that time, he was vice-chairman of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society and believed that the publication should not include any reprints or fiction articles. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky sought to include in the book ‘a number of true, artistic, understandable to everyone pictures of the life of our fatherland, present and past’. It contained a description of the Far North, Finland and the Baltic Region, the Kingdom of Poland, Moscow and the Caucasus, Turkestan and the Kyrgyz steppe.
Original essays and stories specially written for this multivolume work appeared on the pages of ‘Picturesque Russia’. Many researchers set out on expeditions to explore the areas the story is about.
The series ‘Picturesque Russia’ consists of 19 books that were prepared by the O. M. Wolf partnership in the 1870s. The entire collection includes more than six thousand pages, and the number of individual essays exceeds two hundred. The artistic part of the book includes 3815 illustrations, of which more than four hundred are full-page illustrations. Numerous woodcuts, zinc engravings, and photo zinc prints from life can also be found there.
In total, 550 thousand rubles were spent on the publication of these books. As authors, Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky attracted famous geographical scientists, historians, ethnographers and writers. In several volumes, he himself wrote large articles, mainly of economic and geographical nature. Furthermore, 423 people worked on the publication: typesetters, artists, engravers, photographers, bookbinders.
