Archivists continue to publish the works of one of the founders of the Saratov Academic Archival Commission A. N. Minh

Review article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-1-289-296

For citation

Artamonova, Ludmila M. (2025). Archivists continue to publish the works of one of the founders of the Saratov Academic Archival Commission A. N. Minh, Herald of an Archivist, № 1, pp. 289-296, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-1-289-296

Artamonova, Ludmila M., Samara State Institute of Culture, Samara, Russia

Archivists continue to publish the works of one of the founders of the Saratov Academic Archival Commission A. N. Minh

Abstract

The article presents a review of the book published by the State Archive of the Saratov Region and the Department of Affairs of the Government of the Saratov Region on the manuscript of A. N. Minh “Trip to Pyatigorsk in 1868”, kept since the early 1920s in the archive. N. Minh's manuscript “Trip to Pyatigorsk in 1868”, kept in the archive since the early 1920s. On the initiative of the management and staff of the archive, since the 2010s, the most important unpublished works of this author, who was a military officer, a figure of the Peasant Reform, a researcher of his native land, and one of the founders of the Saratov Academic Archival Commission, have been scientifically published. The publication was preceded by the publication of such works of A. N. Minh by archivists as “Notes on the Crimean War” (2019), “Robberies and treasures of the Lower Volga region” (2021). All three editions fully comply with modern editorship practices and follow the Rules and Methodological Guidelines for the publication of written sources. “A Trip to Pyatigorsk in 1868” is preceded by a historical and archaeographical preface, accompanied by extensive commentary, supplemented by various indexes and dictionaries, and a list of abbreviations. The text itself is divided into an introduction, 3 parts and 13 chapters-essays, which reflect the chronology and topography of the journey. It lasted from May 8 (departure from the estate near Saratov) to August 31 (return to Saratov), 1868. Staying at the resort treatment at the waters took 91 days, 25 days were spent on the way back and forth. The way by steamboats and mail horses, by railroad passed through Tsaritsyn, Kalach, Rostov, Ekaterinodar, Stavropol, Pyatigorsk, Essentuki, Kislovodsk and other settlements, which are more or less fully described in the book. It also includes historical, geographical, and statistical reviews of the territories through which the author traveled: Saratov, Ekaterinoslav, Stavropol provinces, and the region of the Army of Don. Special attention is paid to the sights, condition and recreational opportunities of the Caucasian Mineral Waters region. A separate section of the book consists of inserts with color illustrations of the manuscript made by A. N. Minh himself: drawings, maps, plans, schemes. The reviewer made remarks about some shortcomings in the author's text and comments on the initial history of Pyatigorsk and the stay here of A. S. Pushkin and M. Y. Lermontov. The book under review enriches the knowledge about the regions of the Volga region, the Pidonia, the North Caucasus, means of transportation, road everyday life, and Russian resorts in the era of the Great Reforms of the second half of the 19th century and the preceding decades.

Keywords

Russia in the XIX century, local lore, source study, archives, archaeography, travel, resorts.

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References

Mayorova, A. S. (2021) Study of A. N. Minhom's history of settlement of the Saratov Volga region, Izvestia Saratov University, Series History, International Relations, v. 21, № 2, pp. 264-269.

Minh, A. N. (2019) Notes on the Crimean War, Saratov, Saratov State Law Academy publ., 276 p.

Minh, A. N. (2023) Trip to Pyatigorsk in 1868, Saratov: Saratov State Law Academy publ., 468 p.

Minh, A. N. (2021) Robberies and treasures of the Lower Volga region, Saratov, Saratov State Law Academy publ., 336 p.

Smirnov, Yu. N. (2022) Saratov Trans-Volga region in the “guidebook” for Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, Izvestia Saratov University, Series History, International relations, v. 22, № 1, pp. 104-110.

Sosnina, E. L. (2003) Jan Pototsky and his “Journey to the Astrakhan and Caucasian Steppes”, Pyatigorsk, Spetspechat Publishing House publ., 189 p.

Potocki, J. (1829) Voyage dans les steps d'Astrakhan et du Caucase, v. I (6), XVI, Paris, Merlin publ., 359 p.

About authors

Artamonova Ludmila M., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Samara State Institute of Culture, Faculty of Cultural Studies, Socio-Cultural and Information Technologies, Department of Cultural Studies, Museology and Art History, Professor, Samara, Russia, +7-927-908-17-27, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 05.03.2024, recommended for publication on 20.12.2024