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Briefe eines reisenden Russen. Aus dem Russischen von Johann Richter
The Letters of a Russian traveller (1797) are the most important expression of Enlightenment thought from the pen of a Russian writer. In 1789 Nikolai Karamzin (1765-1826), a leading historian and author of sentimental fiction, embarked on an unprecedented intellectual Grand Tour. His itinerary, which took him from St Petersburg through Germany to Revolutionary France and finally to England, served as the basis for this semi-fictional narrative. The narrator visits among others Kant, Herder and Wieland, makes pilgrimage to the resting places of Voltaire and Rousseau, and observes both the revolutionary Assembl�e and the English Parliament at first hand. The resulting work is one in which fiction, philosophy, literary and art criticism, historical and biographical writing coalesce, producing nothing less than a wholesale anthropology and evaluation of the Enlightenment from the unfamiliar perspective of a Russian intellectual writing after the outbreak of the French Revolution. This is the first ever complete translation of Karamzin's work into English. The introduction and concluding study explore the intersection of Russian and European intellectual and literary movements, and illuminate questions about travel literature; history of the book and the growth of readership; the self as a philosophical subject; the growth of perceptions of the public sphere; the pre-Romantic fascination with funerary monuments and theories of sociability. This book is aimed at both Russian specialists and Enlightenment scholars who do not read Russian.
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First published January 1, 1885
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About the author
Nikolay Karamzin
302 books43 followersFather of Nikolay Mikhaylovich Karamzin (
Николай Михайлович Карамзин
) served as an officer in the Russian army. He was sent to Moscow to study under Swiss-German teacher Johann Matthias Schaden; he later moved to Saint Petersburg, where he made the acquaintance of Dmitriev, a Russian poet of some merit, and occupied himself with translating essays by foreign writers into his native language. After residing for some time in Saint Petersburg he went to Simbirsk, where he lived in retirement until induced to revisit Moscow. There, finding himself in the midst of the society of learned men, he again took to literary work.
In 1789, he resolved to travel, and visited Germany, France, Switzerland and England. On his return he published his Letters of a Russian Traveller, which met with great success. These letters, modelled after Irish-born Poet, Laurence Sterne´s , (1713 – 1768), Sentimental Journey, were first printed in the Moscow Journal, which he edited, but were later collected and issued in six volumes (1797-1801).
In the same periodical Karamzin also published translations from French and some original stories, including Poor Liza and Natalia the Boyar's Daughter (both 1792). These stories introduced Russian readers to sentimentalism, and Karamzin was hailed as "a Russian Sterne".
In 1794, Karamzin abandoned his literary journal and published a miscellany in two volumes entitled Aglaia, in which appeared, among other stories, The Island of Bornholm and Ilya Muromets, the latter a story based on the adventures of the well-known hero of many a Russian legend. From 1797 to 1799 he issued another miscellany or poetical almanac, The Aonides, in conjunction with Derzhavin and Dmitriev. In 1798 he compiled The Pantheon, a collection of pieces from the works of the most celebrated authors ancient and modern, translated into Russian. Many of his lighter productions were subsequently printed by him in a volume entitled My Trifles. Admired by Alexander Pushkin and Vladimir Nabokov, the style of his writings is elegant and flowing, modelled on the easy sentences of the French prose writers rather than the long periodical paragraphs of the old Slavonic school.
In 1802 and 1803 Karamzin edited the journal the European Messenger (Vestnik Evropy). It was not until after the publication of this work that he realized where his strength lay, and commenced his 12 volume History of the Russian State. In order to accomplish the task, he secluded himself for two years at Simbirsk, the Volga river town where Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov, a.k.a. Lenin, (1870 - 1924), was born. This town was known then, after Lenin, for some 60 years as Ulianovsk, while Saint Petersburg became Leningrad till around 1990.
When emperor Alexander learned the cause of his retirement, Karamzin was invited to Tver, where he read to the emperor the first eight volumes of his history. He was a strong supporter of the anti-Polish policies of the Russian Empire, and expressed hope that there would be no Poland under any shape or name In 1816 he removed to St Petersburg, where he spent the happiest days of his life, enjoying the favour of Alexander I and submitting to him the sheets of his great work, which the emperor read over with him in the gardens of the palace of Tsarskoye Selo.
He did not, however, live to carry his work further than the eleventh volume, terminating it at the accession of Michael Romanov in 1613. He died on the 22nd of May (old style) 1826, in the Taurida palace. A monument was erected to his memory at Simbirsk in 1845.
In 1789, he resolved to travel, and visited Germany, France, Switzerland and England. On his return he published his Letters of a Russian Traveller, which met with great success. These letters, modelled after Irish-born Poet, Laurence Sterne´s , (1713 – 1768), Sentimental Journey, were first printed in the Moscow Journal, which he edited, but were later collected and issued in six volumes (1797-1801).
In the same periodical Karamzin also published translations from French and some original stories, including Poor Liza and Natalia the Boyar's Daughter (both 1792). These stories introduced Russian readers to sentimentalism, and Karamzin was hailed as "a Russian Sterne".
In 1794, Karamzin abandoned his literary journal and published a miscellany in two volumes entitled Aglaia, in which appeared, among other stories, The Island of Bornholm and Ilya Muromets, the latter a story based on the adventures of the well-known hero of many a Russian legend. From 1797 to 1799 he issued another miscellany or poetical almanac, The Aonides, in conjunction with Derzhavin and Dmitriev. In 1798 he compiled The Pantheon, a collection of pieces from the works of the most celebrated authors ancient and modern, translated into Russian. Many of his lighter productions were subsequently printed by him in a volume entitled My Trifles. Admired by Alexander Pushkin and Vladimir Nabokov, the style of his writings is elegant and flowing, modelled on the easy sentences of the French prose writers rather than the long periodical paragraphs of the old Slavonic school.
In 1802 and 1803 Karamzin edited the journal the European Messenger (Vestnik Evropy). It was not until after the publication of this work that he realized where his strength lay, and commenced his 12 volume History of the Russian State. In order to accomplish the task, he secluded himself for two years at Simbirsk, the Volga river town where Vladimir Ilych Ulyanov, a.k.a. Lenin, (1870 - 1924), was born. This town was known then, after Lenin, for some 60 years as Ulianovsk, while Saint Petersburg became Leningrad till around 1990.
When emperor Alexander learned the cause of his retirement, Karamzin was invited to Tver, where he read to the emperor the first eight volumes of his history. He was a strong supporter of the anti-Polish policies of the Russian Empire, and expressed hope that there would be no Poland under any shape or name In 1816 he removed to St Petersburg, where he spent the happiest days of his life, enjoying the favour of Alexander I and submitting to him the sheets of his great work, which the emperor read over with him in the gardens of the palace of Tsarskoye Selo.
He did not, however, live to carry his work further than the eleventh volume, terminating it at the accession of Michael Romanov in 1613. He died on the 22nd of May (old style) 1826, in the Taurida palace. A monument was erected to his memory at Simbirsk in 1845.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 1, 2024
Karamzin's letters act as a time machine to the closing decade of the 18th century. Not every letter is riveting (we don't need to know the price of every meal in every tavern, Nikolai), but as a whole this collection of descriptions, thoughts, anecdotes, ... is amazing and it forms a truly unique window into an age and a world of the past.
It's crazy to read about how - in some respects - humanity has changed a lot in 200 years but - in other respects - hasn't changed at all. Loved it.
It's crazy to read about how - in some respects - humanity has changed a lot in 200 years but - in other respects - hasn't changed at all. Loved it.
December 11, 2020
Ik heb het boek gelezen in een Nederlandse vertaling van Emmanuel Waegemans.
Het is echt interessant. Ik ben meegereisd, meer dan twee eeuwen geleden, met een rijke, goed opgeleide, verstandige, jonge Rus, van Rusland naar Kaliningrad, dan Polen, Duitsland, Zwitserland, Frankrijk - waar de revolutie is uitgebroken - en Engeland. Hij heeft overal hoogstaande relaties en ontmoet zo grote geleerden en schrijvers, gaat naar het theater en de opera, bezoekt musea, kerken, kastelen en andere interessante plaatsen. Het is ongelooflijk hoe erudiet hij is. Hij spreekt vloeiend Frans en Duits en kent ook wat Engels. Het boek bevat een schat aan culturele informatie. Een boek om opnieuw te lezen!
Het is echt interessant. Ik ben meegereisd, meer dan twee eeuwen geleden, met een rijke, goed opgeleide, verstandige, jonge Rus, van Rusland naar Kaliningrad, dan Polen, Duitsland, Zwitserland, Frankrijk - waar de revolutie is uitgebroken - en Engeland. Hij heeft overal hoogstaande relaties en ontmoet zo grote geleerden en schrijvers, gaat naar het theater en de opera, bezoekt musea, kerken, kastelen en andere interessante plaatsen. Het is ongelooflijk hoe erudiet hij is. Hij spreekt vloeiend Frans en Duits en kent ook wat Engels. Het boek bevat een schat aan culturele informatie. Een boek om opnieuw te lezen!
July 26, 2024
С любезною искренностию открывает Николай Михайлович Карамзин мысли свои о некоторых важнейших для человечества предметах в сочинении своём под именем «Письма русского путешественника».
Предпринял он путешествие по Европе единственно для того, чтобы собрать некоторые приятные впечатления и обогатить своё воображение новыми идеями, а после жить в мире с Натурою и с добрыми, любить изящное и наслаждаться им.
Сочинение Николая Михайловича заставило меня любить его и возбудило во мне желание знать Автора лично.
Читала я труд сей с великим удовольствием от первой страницы до последней. Какая сила в чувствах! Какая живопись в языке!
Приятно, весело, друзья мои, переезжать из одной земли в другую, видеть новые предметы, с которыми, кажется, самая душа наша обновляется!
Для того чтобы узнать всю привязанность нашу к Отечеству надобно из него выехать; чтобы узнать всю любовь нашу к друзьям, надобно с ними расстаться.
Одним словом, друзья мои, путешествуй, кто только может!
Ура!!!
Предпринял он путешествие по Европе единственно для того, чтобы собрать некоторые приятные впечатления и обогатить своё воображение новыми идеями, а после жить в мире с Натурою и с добрыми, любить изящное и наслаждаться им.
Сочинение Николая Михайловича заставило меня любить его и возбудило во мне желание знать Автора лично.
Читала я труд сей с великим удовольствием от первой страницы до последней. Какая сила в чувствах! Какая живопись в языке!
Приятно, весело, друзья мои, переезжать из одной земли в другую, видеть новые предметы, с которыми, кажется, самая душа наша обновляется!
Для того чтобы узнать всю привязанность нашу к Отечеству надобно из него выехать; чтобы узнать всю любовь нашу к друзьям, надобно с ними расстаться.
Одним словом, друзья мои, путешествуй, кто только может!
Ура!!!
August 13, 2019
It's amazing how fresh it reads - Karamzin was just 22-23 years old at the time of his journey and his style is unexpectedly humorous and ironic for a future state historian and language reformer.
July 23, 2019
Сей изрядный травелог без колебаний отнесу к лучшим образцам на русском языке писаного.
Рискну даже высказать мысль, что собранные в нем впечатления и свидетельства могут быть современному читателю местами интересны более, нежели прославленный пересказ исторических хроник, предпринятый позднее тем же автором.
Рискну даже высказать мысль, что собранные в нем впечатления и свидетельства могут быть современному читателю местами интересны более, нежели прославленный пересказ исторических хроник, предпринятый позднее тем же автором.
September 2, 2018
Русский и иностранец в одном лице – Николай Карамзин. Знающий о России, решил прикоснуться к образу жизни живущих за пределами родной ему страны. Что там? Блестящее общество и образ для подражания? Или адово место, побуждающее наконец-то захлопнуть прорубленное Петром окно, покуда не полезла оттуда разномастная нечисть, вроде постоянно пребывавшей шантрапы, не нашедшей места среди собственных сограждан. В Германии Карамзина принимали за немца, во Франции – за англичанина. И даже в Англии и Швейцарии никто не верил в его происхождение, готовые отказываться от признания данного факта вплоть до последнего из возможных аргументов. Но достаточно было зачитать эпические стихотворения Михаила Хераскова, как сомнения исчезали. Карамзин действительно русский, а язык его народа – достойный права называться поэтическим.
(c) Trounin
(c) Trounin
December 30, 2024
Не прошло и двух с половиной лет! Но книга задорная, ничего не скажешь, заставляет снова влюбиться в богатство нашего могучего и великого.
July 22, 2014
salah satu produk sastra perjalanan awal. Kerennya, Karamzin keukeuh ketemu sama orang-orang yang dikaguminya di setiap negara. Karamzin juga punya catatan tersendiri di setiap negara (selain percakapan menarik dengan orang-orang yang ditemuinya) tentang pemandangan, keluarga-keluarga, bentuk bangunan, sampai soal wanita cantik!
December 27, 2016
Наверное один из первых примеров дневников (писем) путешественника из России. Автор покидает Питер и едет через современную Эстонию, Латвию, Литву и Польшу в Кенигсберг. Там встречается с Кантом и оставляет подробное описание этой встречи. Позже едет в Германию. На зиму уезжает в Швейцарию, где проводит довольно много времени в Женеве. Все это совпадает по времени с Революцией во Франции.
August 3, 2016
Легко читается, масса интересных деталей о восприятии того времени (сентиментальный туризм по местам, связанным с Руссо! неодобрительное восприятие средневековой архитектуры!) и симпатичный рассказчик.
May 4, 2011
What honest detail! A walk through an 18th century painting.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews