The Presidential Library: New acquisitions

At the Presidential Library web site has been published materials of the Presidential Library on the Russian history of the last quarter of XVII - the first half of XIX century.

The historical research of professor of the St. Petersburg University, Academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences Nikolai Gerasimovich Ustryalov “History of the reign of Peter I” (St. Petersburg, 1858-1863) was conceived by the author as the ten-volume edition, but it was managed to produce only 1-4, 6 volumes. The fifth volume remained unrealized.

In the first volume “The rule of Princess Sophia” the author tells the story of Russia before Peter the Great, of the birth and early years of the life of the Emperor, on foreign and domestic policy of the country till 1689.

In the second volume “Amusing and Azov campaigns” is described the life of Peter to the age of seventeen years: the beginning of his reign (from 1682), the first research trips and the military campaigns of the young king.

The third volume “Travel and break with Sweden” describes important for Russia travels of Emperor in Europe, the development of diplomatic relations.

In the first part of the fourth volume “Battle of Narva and the beginning of victories” are described the events from the beginning of the Great Northern War (1700-1721) to the victory near Kalish in 1706. As a supplement are printed 40 letters of General Admiral F. Y. Lefort.

The second part of the fourth volume “Applications” contains copies of the original certificates (imperial rescripts, decrees, notes, letters and reports) from the State Archive of St. Petersburg, the main archive in Moscow, the Secret Vienna State Archive, the archives of the Senate, the Ministry of the Navy, the Imperial Academy of Sciences.

The sixth volume, dedicated to Prince Alexei Petrovich, and Applications to the first four volumes in the form of maps and plans will be published at the portal of the Presidential Library in the near future.

The book “History of the Russian Army and Navy” (Moscow, 1911). Issue 1, Issue 2 cover the history of the development of Russian military affairs from the birth of the Russian state to the early XX century, in particular, the publication presents: essays on the history of war and the Russian army till Peter the Great, during the reign of Peter the Great and his successors on the throne: Anna Ioannovna, Elizaveta Petrovna, Catherine II, and the story of the life and work of the great general Alexander Suvorov.

The book Thirty-nine portraits of 1808-1815 (St. Petersburg, 1902), published by the Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich Romanov, contains drawings of Russian government and military figures of the time of Alexander I, painted from life by French artist Louis de Saint-Aubin in the period of the Napoleonic Wars in 1812-1815. Each portrait is completed with a profile in Russian and French.

The historical essay of A. I. Dmitriev-Mamonov Decembrists in Western Siberia (St. Petersburg, 1905), based on the materials collected in the archives of Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces and the Akmola region, describes in detail the living conditions of 39 Decembrists at the places of exile in Western Siberia during 1826-1856 years, the Siberian administration disposition of the first half of the XIX century, and talks about the social activities of the Decembrists of the Siberian population.

The preparation of new materials continues.