Historic Moment
Articles about the past and present
№2
The works of historians can be more interesting than fiction
When visiting a bookstore, many customers first look at the shelves with fiction.
It attracts them by giving them the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world invented by the writer, to escape from the surrounding reality, everyday worries and anxieties, and also to enjoy the mental contemplation of the characters, the imagination of their appearance, the experience and sensation of their passions, intrigues, feelings, aspirations and desires.
Undoubtedly, it is pleasant and easy to follow the development of the invented plot, such reading gives the opportunity to refresh the mind, without straining it too much. However, it cannot be said that this activity has much educational value, since it is unlikely that, for example, a description of a battle with monsters in a distant galaxy, vividly described in a science fiction novel, has the slightest relation to reality. It is much more useful for development to read some slightly more difficult to perceive, but much closer to reality works of famous historians.
A good example of a book that is easy to read and at the same time entirely based on real facts is the "Historical Portraits" by V. O. Klyuchevsky. In this collection, you can find detailed descriptions of Ivan the Terrible, Sergius of Radonezh, Peter I, Catherine II. The author's leisurely and thorough style allows you to calmly and thoroughly study the character traits of Russian rulers, the conditions in which they grew up and formed, their family circumstances, often quite dramatic.
Along the way, a wide range of historical figures from the relevant periods are brought onto the stage, their influence on the main character of the essay and the general development of events in the state are described. We can say that Klyuchevsky's collection of articles and lectures on outstanding figures of the past was created in the recently very popular genres of "newspaper novel" and "political detective".
And although it does not contain any fiction, it will be very interesting to read from the very first pages. In fact, from the pen of the famous Russian historian came a documentary psychological novel, and much more fascinating than numerous works of recognized masters of psychological prose.
Few of them can compare with Klyuchevsky in how detailed the driving motives of the heroes, their social environment, relationships with their immediate environment, the intricacies of family and love intricacies are described. With all this, the reader will feel that the author has not thrown him into the stormy river of human passions, but slowly and confidently leads him over it on a solid bridge, making frequent and long stops, during which one can, leaning on the railing, examine in detail what and how is happening in the stream of events seething below.
It is difficult to find a book that arouses greater interest in the study of events of the distant past than Klyuchevsky's "Historical Portraits".
In it, he not only talks in detail about the lives of famous rulers, but also devotes much attention to the development of Russian archival work. Particularly impressive is his leisurely narrative about the lover of antiquities Ivan Nikitich Boltin, whom he places on a par with Musin-Pushkin, Tatishchev and Miller. The author begins the chapter dedicated to Boltin with a long and thorough discussion of the formation of Russian historiography.
Claiming that the famous Karamzin pushed Boltin out of the sight of the Russian reading public, he gradually and unobtrusively restores the significance of this long-forgotten Russian historian, and it is certainly from Klyuchevsky that most modern students, postgraduates and even teachers learn that in the constellation of brilliant scientists and collectors of antiquities there was one little-known name that deserves special attention today as lost in the bustle of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Smoothly moving on to criticism of social mores, which put lovers of Russian antiquity on a par with eccentrics and even madmen, Klyuchevsky notes that the response of manuscript collectors was the most merciless Christian generosity. Moreover, they even regretted the people who laughed at them. The author directly calls collectors of antiquities "archaeological Plyushkins" and, judging by some of his phrases, he himself treats these lovers of "written rags and metal junk" with some bewilderment. True, he immediately explains to himself and the reader that collecting manuscripts was a manifestation of concern for humanity.
It must be admitted that the efforts of archaeophiles were not in vain, and it is thanks to them that today on the bookshelves of home libraries there are luxurious and modest editions of "The Tale of Igor's Campaign", which gave rise to a powerful wave of verbal, pictorial, musical and philosophical rethinking. Klyuchevsky, without any irony, claims that the "Tale" found by Count Musin-Pushkin became the crown of righteous work carried out by the "antiquarians" who lived in the 18th century.
We can say that in this way they laid a cultural and historical bridge between ancient and new Russia, and, without any exaggeration, gave the world one of the best literary monuments. And, although the manuscript of "The Word" burned, the thoughts and images preserved in its lines brightly illuminate modern reality through the centuries, serve as a distant ideological beacon for it, indicating the path along which the country should develop.
Painstakingly describing the contribution of the scientist-enthusiast Boltin to Russian historiography, Klyuchevsky in his "Historical Portraits" classifies him as an amateur patriot.
Scholars of this kind spent time and effort collecting and studying ancient manuscripts not only because of scientific curiosity. In old, dilapidated manuscripts, they hoped to discover spiritual components of social life, which modern Russian society lacked.
The author of "Portraits" believes that Boltin was one of the most insightful and educated lovers of Russian history, who did not work for the sake of satisfying vanity and therefore were in no hurry to publish the documents they found. The scholars of this circle were cautious about publishing and did it occasionally, preferring to hide their involvement in the publication of this or that document they had found.
Klyuchevsky believes that this reluctance to share the fruits of their labors does not diminish the importance of the service that amateur patriots rendered to Russian historiography, since they managed to preserve for future generations many invaluable testimonies of certain events, as well as to contribute to the awakening of a caring attitude towards antiquity. Moreover, the high official ranks and titles of these collectors and scientists increased the importance of their research in the eyes of those around them, which served as moral support for less high-ranking enthusiasts who were just beginning to master the art of historiography, which was new to Russia in the 18th century.
Klyuchevsky even draws the reader's attention to the fact that Boltin "was not a scholar-historian by profession." He built a career in the military and customs service and crowned it with the rank of major general, as well as membership in the military collegium. A little later, the author of "Portraits" does not miss the opportunity to list the regalia of another collector of antiquities - Boltin's friend Count Musin-Pushkin, who was master of ceremonies at the court, chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod and president of the Academy of Arts.
From the chapter of "Portraits" dedicated to the centenary of Boltin's death, one can also learn that until his ripe old age, this "native expert", "lateral ancestor of Slavophilism" and "old-timer of the pre-Petrine school", as Klyuchevsky aptly described it, perceived his historiographic works more as an apprenticeship than as a full-fledged research project, which his research actually was. His scientific legacy consisted of about a hundred bundles of manuscripts compiled by him, which even included his translation of a French encyclopedia.
Perhaps one of the manifestations of recognition of the value of the work Boltin carried out, in his words, "for her own pleasure" was the purchase of his works by Catherine the Second. It is quite possible that his legacy will gain even wider recognition today on the wave of growing interest in Russian antiquities, customs, historical figures, folk costumes and crafts.
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