Russia through the Eyes of Foreigners
Travel and Personal Accounts of the Russian Empire from the Sixteenth Century to the October Revolution, 1917
The first selection of 250 titles is in English, including translations of works which were influential throughout Europe and, later, America. While some have been reprinted at various times, the majority enjoyed a single edition and several were privately printed and remain virtually unknown.
Continued Interest
The Russians have always been interested in, not to say suspicious about, what foreigners have written about their country and its rulers, people, religion, and customs. Curiously enough, the first objection to a foreigner's writing came not from the Russians, but from English merchants. These merchants - members of the Muscovy Company - were alarmed by Giles Fletcher's Of the Russe Commonwealth (1591). They petitioned with success that unless the book was recalled, it would “turn the Companie to some great displeasure with the Russe Emperour.” Whether Tsar Fedor was acquainted with the work is not known. However, when in 1848 a Russian scholar attempted to publish his translation of Fletcher's work, the Minister of National Enlightenment, S.S. Uvarov, informed Nicholas I of the venomous attack on the autocracy and the church. As a result, the journal was confiscated and new pages were substituted.
Western Criticism
The eighteenth century produced several examples of Russian sensitivity to Western criticism. Peter the Great took exception to the secretary of the Austrian legation Johan-Georg Korb's harrowing description of the execution of the Strel'tsy and of his own sadistic participation. He ordered his agents in Europe to buy up copies and suppress the book. During the reign of Anna Ivanovna, the Italian adventurer Francesco Locatelli, unhappy about his experiences in Russia, vented his indignation in his Lettres moscovites (1736). The Russian ambassador to England not only commissioned a German version of the work with a point-for-point denunciation of its author, but also suggested that he should hire men to beat up the unfortunate Italian when he appeared in England in 1738. This strategy was employed by a later ambassador who wished to deal with a similar problem during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Catherine the Great
Catherine's early years on the throne were fraught with a whole range of similar problems. In one notorious case, she moved to suppress through the good offices of Voltaire, Diderot and Mme Geoffrin, the publication of Claude Carloman de Rulhière's Anecdotes sur la révolution de Russie en l'année 1762. This book was circulating in manuscript form in 1763 but came out in press only in 1797, after the empress's death. In another case, she wrote - under the guise of a “Lover of Truth” - a rebuttal of the French astronomer Jean Chappe d'Auteroche's Voyage en Sibérie (1768). Not surprisingly, she preferred works which added luster to her reputation or that of Russia. For instance, she was happy to see her Society for the Translation of Foreign Books bring out a version of “honest” John Bell's Travels from St Petersburgh in Russia, to Various Parts of Asia (1763). This book, the translator suggested, “is full of information and incidents concerning Russia which make his book important for us.” Another publication she was pleased with was a translation of Lady Elizabeth Craven's Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople (1789). In it, favourable things were said about her and the Crimea, through which Catherine had recently visited.
Dedication to the Emperor
Things did not get any better under Alexander I. When Robert Lyall, a Scottish doctor in Russian service, dedicated his Character of the Russians, and a Detailed History of Moscow (1823) to the emperor, the Russian reaction was immediate and extreme. The Russian vice-consul in London wrote to The Times, protesting that the dedication was unauthorized. Soon the newspapers were carrying reports of an imperial decree, according to which: “No foreign writer shall be authorized to dedicate any work to his Majesty, without having previously solicited permission from the Minister for Foreign Affairs resident in the country in which the author resides. The prohibition has been caused by the inconceivable audacity of an Englishman, who has, with great effrontery, dedicated to his Majesty a book written against his government, and the entire Russian nation.”
Lyall, the blind James Holman (author of Travels through Russia, Siberia, Poland... ; 1825), and many other authors who were critical of Russia and the Russians, undoubtedly relished the succès de scandale that ensured their publications received far more interest than they warranted.
Russian Heritage
The Russians have never had a strong faith in their country's cultural and social traditions and institutions. They lack the general sense of superiority which has distinguished the English and the French in particular, and made them immune to foreign opinion. The British often traveled, it seemed, in order to be able to proclaim on their return that “O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, Britannos!” and to indulge in the assertive John-Bullism which has long been their cachet. The Russians found it difficult to share the European heritage their tsars decreed should also be theirs. Despite changes of emphasis and periods of unconcealed, but understandable, xenophobia, the Russians soon learnt to assimilate this heritage. Already during Catherine's reign, Russian travelers - such as the playwright Denis Fonvizin and the man-of-letters Nikolai Karamzin - penned their impressions of Europe, while rejoicing in their Russianness, native land, and heritage.
Unique Insight
When Karamzin began the writing and research that led to his great Istoriia Gosudarstva Rossiiskogo (“History of the Russian State”; 1818-26), he recognized the value of foreigners' accounts for his work. Throughout the nineteenth century, Russian translations of and commentaries on almost all early foreign works of note and substance were prepared. In the introduction to his Skazaniia inostrantsev o moskovskom gosudarstve (“Foreigners’ Accounts of Muscovy”; 1866), the Russian historian V.O. Kliuchevskii wrote of the prejudices and stereotypes most European travelers brought with them on their visits to Muscovy. However, he acknowledged that in the virtual absence of native Russian sources, much that the visitors observed and recorded was of unique value: “External phenomena, the surface order of social life, its material aspect - these are what a casual observer might describe most fully and faithfully; in contrast, information about domestic life, about the moral state of a society could not be equally full or reliable.”
Russian Translations
In later periods, when Russian sources were able to provide the necessary data, travelers' accounts could be largely disregarded as being uniform, shallow and at best curious. Nevertheless, foreigners' accounts continued to be carefully catalogued and collected. Kliuchevskii had relied much on the Russian translation of F. Adelung's Kritisch-literärische Uebersicht der Resienden in Russland bis 1700 (1846). However, bibliographies for later periods were produced at regular intervals, particularly of Russian translations from foreign sources. The greatest monument to Russian interest in what was being written about them “abroad,” however, was published as a result of a decision made by Baron Modest Korf. In 1873 there appeared the two-volume Catalogue de la Section des Russica ou écrits sur la Russie en langues étrangères, registering all manner of works in numerous European languages. This was partially updated by I.G. Iakovleva in 1986 as Dorevoliutsionnye izdaniia po istorii SSSR v inostrannom fonde GPB: sistematicheskii ukazatel (“Pre-Revolutionary Publications on the History of the USSR in the Foreign Holdings of the State Public Library”), which, sadly, was an in-house production and not generally available.
Travel Literature
There is a rich travel literature in most of the European languages, but especially, as might be expected, in English, French and German, growing from a steady stream to a flood by the end of the nineteenth century and up to the October Revolution. Foreign accounts of Russia contain much of value, sometimes in the most unlikely contexts and sometimes of a nature not to be found in native Russian sources (meetings with fellow-countrymen and tales of their lives, for instance). They are often reveal more about the writers, their background, prejudices and sympathies than about the country and society they are attempting to describe. While many accounts deal with the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, many provide an insight into life and conditions in the provinces and foreign travelers penetrated into all the corners of the Russian Empire. The first selection of 250 titles are all in English, including translations of works which were influential throughout Europe and, later, America. While some have been reprinted at various times, the majority enjoyed a single edition and several were privately printed and remain virtually unknown.
Rossica in the National Library of Russia
Most of the books were filmed in the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg), one of the world's largest libraries. Today it stocks more then 32.8 million items, of which 6 million are in foreign languages. The collection of the National Library of Russia "Rossica" -all publications in foreign languages or written by foreigners about Russia- is the pride of the Library. It was accumulated in the library during the last two centuries. The decision to start the collection was taken by Baron Modest Korf's, soon after his appointment in 1849 as Director of the Imperial Public Library in St Petersburg. He established une section spéciale, destinée à réunir tous les livres publiés en langues étrangères, ayant trait à la Russie sous quelque rapport que ce fût - intérieur ou extérieur. Today this collection contains more than 250.000 books and periodicals on foreign languages, among then many rare editions of sixteenth -eighteenth centuries. In 1873 there appeared the two-volume Catalogue de la Section des Russica ou écrits sur la Russie en langues étrangères, registering all kinds of works in numerous European languages. Some other rare books from this collection are held in my private library. Some titles and editions suggested for this collection are still being sought for inclusion and will be added in due course (such are the rare sixth edition of Coxe's travels (1803) and the supplemaentary letters to the account of Lady Rondeau.
Prof. Anthony Cross, University of Cambridge, U.K.
Travel and Personal Accounts of the Russian Empire from the Sixteenth Century to the October Revolution, 1917
The first selection of 250 titles is in English, including translations of works which were influential throughout Europe and, later, America. While some have been reprinted at various times, the majority enjoyed a single edition and several were privately printed and remain virtually unknown.
Continued Interest
The Russians have always been interested in, not to say suspicious about, what foreigners have written about their country and its rulers, people, religion, and customs. Curiously enough, the first objection to a foreigner's writing came not from the Russians, but from English merchants. These merchants - members of the Muscovy Company - were alarmed by Giles Fletcher's Of the Russe Commonwealth (1591). They petitioned with success that unless the book was recalled, it would “turn the Companie to some great displeasure with the Russe Emperour.” Whether Tsar Fedor was acquainted with the work is not known. However, when in 1848 a Russian scholar attempted to publish his translation of Fletcher's work, the Minister of National Enlightenment, S.S. Uvarov, informed Nicholas I of the venomous attack on the autocracy and the church. As a result, the journal was confiscated and new pages were substituted.
Western Criticism
The eighteenth century produced several examples of Russian sensitivity to Western criticism. Peter the Great took exception to the secretary of the Austrian legation Johan-Georg Korb's harrowing description of the execution of the Strel'tsy and of his own sadistic participation. He ordered his agents in Europe to buy up copies and suppress the book. During the reign of Anna Ivanovna, the Italian adventurer Francesco Locatelli, unhappy about his experiences in Russia, vented his indignation in his Lettres moscovites (1736). The Russian ambassador to England not only commissioned a German version of the work with a point-for-point denunciation of its author, but also suggested that he should hire men to beat up the unfortunate Italian when he appeared in England in 1738. This strategy was employed by a later ambassador who wished to deal with a similar problem during the reign of Catherine the Great.
Catherine the Great
Catherine's early years on the throne were fraught with a whole range of similar problems. In one notorious case, she moved to suppress through the good offices of Voltaire, Diderot and Mme Geoffrin, the publication of Claude Carloman de Rulhière's Anecdotes sur la révolution de Russie en l'année 1762. This book was circulating in manuscript form in 1763 but came out in press only in 1797, after the empress's death. In another case, she wrote - under the guise of a “Lover of Truth” - a rebuttal of the French astronomer Jean Chappe d'Auteroche's Voyage en Sibérie (1768). Not surprisingly, she preferred works which added luster to her reputation or that of Russia. For instance, she was happy to see her Society for the Translation of Foreign Books bring out a version of “honest” John Bell's Travels from St Petersburgh in Russia, to Various Parts of Asia (1763). This book, the translator suggested, “is full of information and incidents concerning Russia which make his book important for us.” Another publication she was pleased with was a translation of Lady Elizabeth Craven's Journey through the Crimea to Constantinople (1789). In it, favourable things were said about her and the Crimea, through which Catherine had recently visited.
Dedication to the Emperor
Things did not get any better under Alexander I. When Robert Lyall, a Scottish doctor in Russian service, dedicated his Character of the Russians, and a Detailed History of Moscow (1823) to the emperor, the Russian reaction was immediate and extreme. The Russian vice-consul in London wrote to The Times, protesting that the dedication was unauthorized. Soon the newspapers were carrying reports of an imperial decree, according to which: “No foreign writer shall be authorized to dedicate any work to his Majesty, without having previously solicited permission from the Minister for Foreign Affairs resident in the country in which the author resides. The prohibition has been caused by the inconceivable audacity of an Englishman, who has, with great effrontery, dedicated to his Majesty a book written against his government, and the entire Russian nation.”
Lyall, the blind James Holman (author of Travels through Russia, Siberia, Poland... ; 1825), and many other authors who were critical of Russia and the Russians, undoubtedly relished the succès de scandale that ensured their publications received far more interest than they warranted.
Russian Heritage
The Russians have never had a strong faith in their country's cultural and social traditions and institutions. They lack the general sense of superiority which has distinguished the English and the French in particular, and made them immune to foreign opinion. The British often traveled, it seemed, in order to be able to proclaim on their return that “O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, Britannos!” and to indulge in the assertive John-Bullism which has long been their cachet. The Russians found it difficult to share the European heritage their tsars decreed should also be theirs. Despite changes of emphasis and periods of unconcealed, but understandable, xenophobia, the Russians soon learnt to assimilate this heritage. Already during Catherine's reign, Russian travelers - such as the playwright Denis Fonvizin and the man-of-letters Nikolai Karamzin - penned their impressions of Europe, while rejoicing in their Russianness, native land, and heritage.
Unique Insight
When Karamzin began the writing and research that led to his great Istoriia Gosudarstva Rossiiskogo (“History of the Russian State”; 1818-26), he recognized the value of foreigners' accounts for his work. Throughout the nineteenth century, Russian translations of and commentaries on almost all early foreign works of note and substance were prepared. In the introduction to his Skazaniia inostrantsev o moskovskom gosudarstve (“Foreigners’ Accounts of Muscovy”; 1866), the Russian historian V.O. Kliuchevskii wrote of the prejudices and stereotypes most European travelers brought with them on their visits to Muscovy. However, he acknowledged that in the virtual absence of native Russian sources, much that the visitors observed and recorded was of unique value: “External phenomena, the surface order of social life, its material aspect - these are what a casual observer might describe most fully and faithfully; in contrast, information about domestic life, about the moral state of a society could not be equally full or reliable.”
Russian Translations
In later periods, when Russian sources were able to provide the necessary data, travelers' accounts could be largely disregarded as being uniform, shallow and at best curious. Nevertheless, foreigners' accounts continued to be carefully catalogued and collected. Kliuchevskii had relied much on the Russian translation of F. Adelung's Kritisch-literärische Uebersicht der Resienden in Russland bis 1700 (1846). However, bibliographies for later periods were produced at regular intervals, particularly of Russian translations from foreign sources. The greatest monument to Russian interest in what was being written about them “abroad,” however, was published as a result of a decision made by Baron Modest Korf. In 1873 there appeared the two-volume Catalogue de la Section des Russica ou écrits sur la Russie en langues étrangères, registering all manner of works in numerous European languages. This was partially updated by I.G. Iakovleva in 1986 as Dorevoliutsionnye izdaniia po istorii SSSR v inostrannom fonde GPB: sistematicheskii ukazatel (“Pre-Revolutionary Publications on the History of the USSR in the Foreign Holdings of the State Public Library”), which, sadly, was an in-house production and not generally available.
Travel Literature
There is a rich travel literature in most of the European languages, but especially, as might be expected, in English, French and German, growing from a steady stream to a flood by the end of the nineteenth century and up to the October Revolution. Foreign accounts of Russia contain much of value, sometimes in the most unlikely contexts and sometimes of a nature not to be found in native Russian sources (meetings with fellow-countrymen and tales of their lives, for instance). They are often reveal more about the writers, their background, prejudices and sympathies than about the country and society they are attempting to describe. While many accounts deal with the cities of Moscow and St Petersburg, many provide an insight into life and conditions in the provinces and foreign travelers penetrated into all the corners of the Russian Empire. The first selection of 250 titles are all in English, including translations of works which were influential throughout Europe and, later, America. While some have been reprinted at various times, the majority enjoyed a single edition and several were privately printed and remain virtually unknown.
Rossica in the National Library of Russia
Most of the books were filmed in the National Library of Russia (St. Petersburg), one of the world's largest libraries. Today it stocks more then 32.8 million items, of which 6 million are in foreign languages. The collection of the National Library of Russia "Rossica" -all publications in foreign languages or written by foreigners about Russia- is the pride of the Library. It was accumulated in the library during the last two centuries. The decision to start the collection was taken by Baron Modest Korf's, soon after his appointment in 1849 as Director of the Imperial Public Library in St Petersburg. He established une section spéciale, destinée à réunir tous les livres publiés en langues étrangères, ayant trait à la Russie sous quelque rapport que ce fût - intérieur ou extérieur. Today this collection contains more than 250.000 books and periodicals on foreign languages, among then many rare editions of sixteenth -eighteenth centuries. In 1873 there appeared the two-volume Catalogue de la Section des Russica ou écrits sur la Russie en langues étrangères, registering all kinds of works in numerous European languages. Some other rare books from this collection are held in my private library. Some titles and editions suggested for this collection are still being sought for inclusion and will be added in due course (such are the rare sixth edition of Coxe's travels (1803) and the supplemaentary letters to the account of Lady Rondeau.
Prof. Anthony Cross, University of Cambridge, U.K.