Russian tales and epics

The publisher of this collection - German Dmitrievich Goppe (1836 - 1885) - was a famous Russian publisher and typographer. In his youth he studied the basics of book publishing in Europe and in the store of M.O. Wolf. Company G.D. Goppe was considered one of the best in printing among St. Petersburg printing houses, he released a lot of beautifully designed books.

“The album of Russian folk tales and epics” is a unique book, created by order of the royal family, in particular, Empress Maria Alexandrovna which is dedicated to the publication. The album includes folk epics and fairy tales, as well as several poetic arrangements by A.S. Pushkin and P.P. Ershov created on a folklore basis. Each of the 12 works of the album is equipped with comments that reveal the etymology of the names of mythical characters and make it possible to learn a lot about the worldview of the ancient Slavs.

The book is illustrated by engravings made by remarkable artists I.I. Sokolov, N.I. Sokolov, V.M. Vasnetsov, I. Panov, K. Book. Many illustrations were engraved by Academician L.A. Seryakov personally. The drawings of Vignett was performed by K. Brozha, engraved E. Dammuller.

The publication is a monument to the domestic book publishing of the second half of the 19th century both in content and in the technique of execution. The book included well-known epics and fairy tales: “Ilya Muromets”, “Svyatogor”, “Sadko rich”, “Koschey immortal”, “Tsar-girl”, “Golden fish”, “Firebird”, “Bova Korolevich”, “” Dead Princess ”,“ Eruslan Lazarevich ”(“ Ruslan and Lyudmila ”),“ Dobrynya Nikitich ”,“ Horse-Humpbackers ”.