Monday, July 24, 2006

The Siberian Cossack Album

Military settlement service of the Siberian Cossacks. Meeting of the chiefs.

Coach and escort service in the steppes.

Foreign ancestors of present Siberian Cossacks. Enlisting among the
Cossacks of prisoner regiments in Napoleon's army, 1813.

The great-great-grandmothers of Siberian Cossacks.
Arrival of a party of 'wives'.




"This album consists of twenty-one watercolors (out of an original twenty-seven) by the artist, ethnographer, and writer N. N. Kazarin, who had a lengthy residence in Siberia and Central Asia, first as a soldier, and then chronicler of local events. The album was created as a gift for the future Tsar Nicholas II, "the most august ataman," and given to him in the summer of 1891 on his return through Siberia from a trip to the Russian Far East. Its main theme concerns Cossack lore east of the Urals, beginning with Ermak's victory over Khan Kuchum in 1582 and continuing with related subjects from over three centuries of history."
The album is from the Rare Books Department at the Russian State Library in Moscow via the Meeting of Frontiers Collection at the Library of Congress. In many cases, the accompanying text describing the image has been lost (or no translation is provided).
Cossacks at wikipedia.

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