"Book of Precious Necklaces" and other treasures in Presidential Library’s "Rossica" new collection

The Presidential Library’s portal features a new collection  “Rossica”, which includes essays of foreigners about Russia of the 10th-19th centuries. A set of documents, consisting of three chronologically organized sections, was formed on the basis of memories, diaries, reports, notes of foreigners who traveled to Russia. Depending on the purpose of the visit (diplomatic, military, merchant, intelligence), the accents in the work are different. These testimonies are the most important sources for the social history of this period.

The most significant works are the works of diplomats - Austrians Sigismund von Herberstein (1486–1566) “Notes on Muscovite Affairs” and Augustin Meyerberg (1612–1688) “Journey to Muscovy by Baron Augustin Mayerberg”; English Giles Fletcher (1548–1611) “On the Russian State”; German Adam Olearius (1603–1671) “A detailed description of the journey of the Holstein embassy to Muscovy and Persia”, as well as the French mercenary Jacques Margeret (about 1550s - not earlier than 1618) “The Russian state and the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1606”.

The first section of the collection “The Works of Foreigners of the X-XVI Centuries”, includes M. Pogodin’s study “On Volga Rus’ of Khvolson town” (1869), which has the subtitle “News about the Khazars, Burtases, Bulgarians, Magyars, Slavs and Russians” and presenting a detailed analysis of the book of the Arab historian Ibn Dustah (Ibn Rustah). In the period between 903–913, he created a multi-volume encyclopedic work, the “Book of Precious Treasures”, or the “Book of Precious Necklaces”. The work contains noteworthy information about the peoples of Volga Region and Pre-Caspian Region, including the Volga Bulgars and Slavs that appeared in the Volga delta. The manuscript was discovered in 1866 by the professor of the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​at St. Petersburg University, Daniel Abramovich Khvolson in the British Museum, who published it in 1868.

D. Khvolson reports: “Ibn-Dustah, an Arabic writer, or someone saw on the shores of the Caspian Sea clever, courageous, enterprising merchants who came from Russia. “Who are you?” - he asked them. “We are the Russians”, - they answered, all the merchants who came from Rus’ called themselves Russians, no matter what tribe they belonged to”.

The next section of the collection “The Works of Foreigners of the 17th Century” includes not less interesting period of Russian history described by travelers. “A brief and truthful description of a trip from Prague through Silesia, Poland, Moscow, Tataria to the royal court to Persia in 1602–1604” (1908) is a text in German published in 1608 published in Prague. The rare edition of “Sir Thomas Smith Journey and Stay in Russia” (1893) says that Thomas Smith took an active part in the trade enterprises of his compatriots, including those aimed at strengthening economic relations with Russia: “Thomas Smith Embassy to the court of Tsar Boris Godunov, in 1604-1605, belongs to those political missions through which the British government tried, from the time of Ivan the Terrible, to establish and strengthen trade relations with the Moscow State.

T. Smith describes etiquette at the court of Godunov with delicate irony: “Dressed people were sitting around looking important. Then the gifts were brought in, and we, obeying the requirements of the ceremony, had to listen, although not understanding, from a very representative boyar named Peter Basmanov the full title of tsar. Then there was a gift-giving, after which the floor was given to the ambassador, and he, as far as circumstances and time allowed, outlined the goals of his ambassadorial mission”.

"The Legends of Foreign Writers about Russia, published by the Archeographic Commission" (1851) report that "The writings of foreigners about Russia are written in Byzantine, modern Greek, Latin and Oriental languages, and in various Slavic, Romance and German dialects".

The section "Works of the XVIII - early XX centuries" describes a visit to Russia which during this period became more accessible, a significant number of foreigners were hired to serve in the Russian Empire, who left their memories. Many works are devoted to Peter I’s era. The most interesting evidence of the emperor's priorities is reflected in the book by F. Genning “Notes about Russia under Peter the Great, extracted from the papers of Count Bassevich, who lived in Russia, consisting of Holstein’s Duke Karl Friedrich, who married Peter’s daughter Great Anna Petrovna" (1866):

“Peter the Great loved magnificence in festivals; but his private life was distinguished by extraordinary simplicity... Therefore, Petersburg was once surprised to see him leaving his gate in a rich suit, in a beautiful phaeton drawn by six horses, and with a squad of guards. He went to meet with Prince Dolgorukov and Count Golovkin, recalled from their embassies in Copenhagen and Paris for admission to the Senate. Both were of excellent ability and excellently educated. The emperor went to meet them a few miles from the city, put them into his phaeton and drove them along all the main streets to his palace, where he appointed a large meeting. “Was it fair on my part”, - he said, entering there with them, - to go and bring to me with honor the treasures of knowledge and good morals, for the acquisition of which these noble Russians went to other nations and which they now bring to us?”"".  

The works of Marquis Astolph de Custine are highlighted in the collection of the Presidential Library into a separate section. Of all the numerous foreign travelers who left their memories of Nicholas’s Russia, the greatest impression was also abroad, and we made the works of this particular author.

The book Nicholas Epoch: memories of the French traveler Marquis de Custine translated into Russian (1845), caused a stir in Petersburg body politic. In the capital, they knew that the author was known for describing his travels and that a review of Russia, based on personal observations, would not go unnoticed in Europe. During the stay of de Custine in the country, official Russia with the emperor made every effort to make a favorable impression on the guest, and waited for good reviews from him. “She had to experience bitter disappointment”, -  it was written in the preface, “in Cuistine’s book she read a frank and harsh assessment of the Russian state and public life, and this assessment further aggravated the antagonism between the civilized world and Russia”. In the political field, he relied on the fact that only the aristocracy is able to provide political life with a state of stable equilibrium: “The aristocracy, as I understand it, without at all entering into an alliance with tyranny for the sake of order, cannot exist along with arbitrariness. Its mission is to protect, on the one hand, the people from the despot, on the other - civilization from the revolution, the most terrible of tyrants".

On looking Fatherland—foreigner's view — has always been valued among the public, and, I think, the new collection of the Presidential Library will be in demand by all those interested in Rossica.