Exhibition "The First Historiographer of the Russian State"

On the 220th anniversary of Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin being named Historiographer of Russia

This intimate exhibition project, housed within the walls of the Borodino Imperial Palace, tells of an exceptional event that occurred in Russian culture in 1803. The narrative focus is on the monumental work "History of the Russian State", authored by the "foremost" Russian writer Nikolay Mikhailovich Karamzin (1766–1826).

On October 31, 1803, in the words of Prince P.A. Vyazemsky, Karamzin was "initiated" into the historiographers. The eminent and respected writer set about the principal task of his life. It was on this day that Emperor Alexander I signed a decree stating that, approving Karamzin's desire "in so laudable an enterprise as composing the complete history of our Fatherland," the emperor granted him an annual pension of two thousand rubles and promoted the retired lieutenant to Court Councillor, reinstating him in service as historiographer "so that he would have unhindered access to all state archives."

From the first published chapters, the "History of the Russian State" was a sensational success — "people read it, talked about it, admired it and criticized it." In total, the work occupied nearly a quarter of a century.

The exhibition includes several volumes of the "History of the Russian State" from the museum's rare book collection. Eight volumes of the first edition were released for sale simultaneously on February 1, 1818. The very large print run for that time of three thousand copies sold out in less than a month. A total of twelve volumes were published — from the ancient Slavs to the end of the Time of Troubles. The twelfth volume was published last, after N.M. Karamzin's death.

The exhibition presents a phototype of N.M. Karamzin's portrait, executed by V.A. Tropinin in 1818, from the edition by Grand Duke Nikolay Mikhailovich "Russian Portraits of the 18th and 19th Centuries." The portrait is displayed framed by small-format engravings with views of Moscow and Saint Petersburg from the first half of the 19th century.

The exhibition aims to awaken the visitor's interest in Russia's historical past and in history in general, and to recall N.M. Karamzin, for it was thanks to him that the inhabitants of Russia in the early 19th century were able to learn "the history of their Fatherland."

N.M. Karamzin remained in the memory of his contemporaries and descendants as a person who accomplished the "feat of an honest man." That is how A.S. Pushkin described the multivolume "History of the Russian State", a work in great demand among the broad educated public.

The exhibition opens on November 10, 2023.

Hall 6 of the exhibition "Borodino Field. Milestones of History" (Imperial Palace, Borodino)