Information about the author:

Abstract:

The article presents for the first time an analysis of the literary and archaeographic features of the published travel diary of the Russian noblewoman Varvara Ivanovna Pelskaya, about her trip to Western Europe and the Middle East in 1867 with the Pogodins, Mikhail Petrovich and Sofia Ivanovna, her close friend. The article provides biographical information about the author of the diary, based on the study of research literature and handwritten materials stored in the Russian State Library. The publication of the text is accompanied by modern historical and cultural commentary. For the first time, the artistic features of the author’s drawings and engravings illustrating the text are identified and described, as well as the characteristic of the archaeographic and literary features of her diary is given; the archaeographic features of the handwritten source, the literary features of the narrative, the role of metatexts are revealed. It has been established that the value of V.I. Pelskaya’s diary lies in the fact that it is not only an independent literary work, but also a truthful historical source, which captures the realities of the travelers’ life in the middle of the 19th century and reliably describes famous figures of the state, culture and religion.

Keywords: Holy Land, Pilgrimage, Travel Diary, V.I. Pelskaya, M.P. Pogodin.