The Paris of Peter the Great

Authors

  • Sergey Mezin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2017.2.226

Abstract

This article considers the cultural aspect of Peter I’s visit to France in 1717, as well as his Paris impressions and the “lessons” he learnt during the trip. It was not his main purpose to get acquainted with the capital of France during his trip in May and June 1717. However, as it became clear that political talks were not going to be very successful, cultural contacts were brought to the fore. Referring to materials from Peter I’s library, the author concludes that Peter had prepared for the trip to Paris and arrived there already having an idea of French architecture and the landmarks of the capital. Written and printed “guidebooks” analysed by the author of the article and an album of engravings with city views help clarify the visual image of the city during the Russian tsar’s visit. Paris as it is depicted in the aforementioned engravings can be seen as a source of Peter’s dream about a new city on the Neva. Additionally, the author considers the Paris routes of Peter I described in detail by Pierre François Buchet, the editor of the Le Nouveau Mercure newspaper. The tsar was mostly interested in new buildings and monuments to monarchs. Peter I’s cultural policy was significantly influenced by his sightseeing in the French capital. Many spheres of French culture shown to the tsar by his hospitable hosts evoked Peter’s desire to create analogues on Russian soil.

References

Arkhiv SPb II RAN [The Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences of St Petersburg Institute of History]. Fund 270. Inventory 1. Dos. 84, 107.
Bantysh-Kamenskiy, D. N. (1813). Deyaniya znamenitykh polkovodtsev i ministrov, sluzhivshikh v Tsarstvovanie gosudarya imperatora Petra Velikogo, s portretami ikh. Volume 2 [Great Deeds of the Famous Commanders and Ministers, Serving during the Reign of Emperor Peter the Great with their Portraits] 354 p. Moscow, Tipografiya N. S. Vsevolozhskogo.
Berelowitch, W. (1995). Aux sources d’un model à costruire: la France de 1705 vue par un Russe. In Godet, M. (Ed.). De Russie et d’ailleurs. Feux croisés sur l’histoire. Pour Marc Ferro. Paris, Inst. d’études slaves, pp. 389–403.
Berkov, P. N. (1958). Trediakovskij et l’abbé Girard. In Rev. des etudes slaves, 35, pp. 7–14.
Bespyatykh, Yu. N. (1991). Peterburg Petra I v inostrannykh opisaniyakh. Vvedenie. Teksty. Kommentarii [Peter I’s St Petersburg in Foreigners’ Accounts. Introduction. Texts. Comments]. 280 p. Leningrad, Nauka.
Bobrova, E. I. (Comp.) & Likhachev, D. S. (Ed.). (1978). Biblioteka Petra I. Ukazatel’- spravochnik [Peter the Great’s Library. Index and Reference Book]. 214 p. Leningrad, Biblioteka Akademii nauk SSSR.
Bonnardot, A. (1971). Gilles Corrozet et Germain Brice. Etudes bibliographiques sur ces deux historiens de Paris. 75 p. Genève, Slatkine.
Brice, G. (1717). Description de la ville de Paris et de tout ce qu’elle contient de plus remarquable. 494 + 526 + 462 p. Paris, François Fournier.
Buchet, P. F. (1717). Abbregé de l’Histoire du Czar Peter Alexiewitz, avec une Relation de l’Etat présent de la Moscovie, et de ce qui s’est passée de plus considerable, depuis son arrivée en France jusqu’à ce jour. 210 p. Paris, Pierre Ribou et Gregoire Dupuis.
Courtin N. (2008). Paris Grand Siècle. Places, monuments, églises, maisons et hotels particuliers du XVII-e siècle. 176 p. Paris, Parigramme.
Fierro A., Sarazin J. Y. (2005). Le Paris des Lumières d’après le Plan de Turgot (1734–1739). 144 p. Paris, Réunion des Musées Nationaux.
Gorbatenko, S. B. (2015). Arkhitekturnye marshruty Petra Velikogo [The Architectural Routes of Peter the Great]. 376 p. St Petersburg, Istoricheskaya illyustratsiya.
Khmelevskikh, I. V. (2013). Sbornik “L’Architectue Francoise…” iz biblioteki Petra Velikogo [Compilation “L’Architectue Françoise…” from the Library of Peter the Great]. In Pushkin i 1812 god: Materialy nauchno-prakticheskoy konferentsii “Zolotoy vek frantsuzskoy knigi v Rossii” (4–8 aprelya 2012 goda) i Mikhaylovskikh Pushkinskikh chteniy “Pushkin i 1812 god” (15–19 avgusta 2012 goda). Mikhaylovskoe, Pushkinskiy Zapovednik, pp. 91–98.
Khmelevskikh, I. V. (2014). Dva ukaza Petra I o knigakh rizhskomu gubernatoru [Two Decrees of Peter I about the Books for the Riga Governor]. In Kniga v Rossii: k istorii akademicheskoy biblioteki. St Petersburg, Biblioteka Akademii nauk, pp. 80–88.
Khmelevskikh, I. V. (Comp.). (2016). Biblioteka Petra Velikogo. Zapadnoevropeyskie pechatnye knigi v 2 t. T. 1. [Peter the Great’s Library. Western European Printed Books in 2 Vols. Vol. 1]. 981 p. St Petersburg, Biblioteka Akademii nauk.
Le Nouveau Mercure. 1717, juin, pp. 183–205.
Likhachev, D. S. (Ed.). (1954). Puteshestviya russkikh poslov XVI–XVII vekov: Stateynye spiski [Journeys of the Russian Ambassadors during the 16th and 17th Centuries. Articles Lists]. 490 p. Moscow & Leningrad, Izdatel’svo Akademii nauk SSSR.
Medvedkova, O. (2006). La bibliothèque d’architecture de Pierre le Grand. Entre Curiosité et Passion. In Cahiers du Monde Russe, 47/3, pp. 467–502.
Mezin, S. A. & Khmelevskikh, I. V. (2015). Petr I i gertsog d’Anten [Peter I and Duke of Antin]. In Trudy Gosudarstvennogo Ermitazha, 78, pp. 298–311.
Mezin, S. A. (2015). Petr I vo Frantsii [Peter I in France]. 312 p. St Petersburg, Evropeyskiy Dom.
Obstoyatel’nyy zhurnal o voyazhe (ili o puteshestvii) ego Tsarskogo velichestva, kak is Kopengagena poekhal i byl v Galandii, vo Frantsii i v protchikh tamoshnikh mestakh, i chto tam chinilos’ [A Detailed Journal about the Journey of His Tsar Majesty and how from Copenhagen He Went to Holland, France and Other Places and what Happened there]. In Maykova, T. S. (Comp.). (2004). Gistoriya Sveyskoy voyny. Podennaya zapiska Petra Velikogo, I. Moscow, Krug.
OR BAN [The Manuscripts Department of the Academy of Sciences Library]. P I B, 111.
Pamyatniki literatury Drevney Rusi. Konets XV– pervaya polovina XVI veka [Monuments of Literature of Ancient Rus. Late 15th – First Half of the 16th Century]. (1984). 768 p. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura.
Perelle A., Perelle G., Perelle N. (1680). Veues des belles maisons de France. S. p. Paris. Petr Velikiy. Vospominaniya. Dnevnikovye zapisi. Anekdoty [Peter the Great. Memoirs. Diaries. Anecdotes]. (1993). 446 p. Moscow, Pushkinskiy fond & Tret’ya volna.
Pis’ma russkikh gosudarey i drugikh osob Tsarskogo semeystva. Volume I: Perepiska Petra I s Ekaterinoyu Alekseevnoyu [Letters of Russian Tsars and Other Members of the Royal Family. Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna’s Correspondence]. (1861). 172 p. Moscow, Tipografiya S. Orlova.
Pobedinskaya, A. G. (2000). Gollandskie kartiny iz kollektsii Kunstkamery [The Dutch Pictures from the Collection of the Kunstkamera]. In Iz istorii petrovskikh kollektsiy: sbornik nauchnykh trudov. Pamyati N. V. Kalyazinoy. St Petersburg, Gosudarstvennyy Ermitazh, pp. 146–161.
Porchet, J. (1938). Petr Velikiy i Parizhskaya korolevskaya biblioteka [Peter the Great and Paris Royal Library]. In Vremennik Obshchestva druzey russkoy knigi (Paris), 4, pp. 43–60.
Relations Veritables. 1717, 18 mai, s. p.
RGADA – Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv drevnikh aktov [Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts]. Fund 9 (II). Volume 23, 24, 88 (I). Fund 93 (1705). Dos. 2.
Saint-Simon (1991). Memuary. Polnye i dopodlinnye vospominaniya gertsoga de Sen-Simona o veke Lyudovika XIV i Regentstve. Izbrannye glavy. Kn. 2 [Memoirs. Full and Real Memories of Duke de Saint-Simon about the Era of Louis XIV and Regency. Selected Chapters. Vol. 2]. 520 p. Moscow, Progress.
Stählin, J. (1878). Podlinnye anekdoty Petra Velikago, slyshannye iz ust znatnykh osob v Moskve i Stpeterburge [Real Anecdotes of Peter the Great, Heard from Noble People in Moscow and St Petersburg]. 592 p. Moscow, tipografiya Ponomareva.

Published

2017-06-30

How to Cite

Mezin, S. (2017). The Paris of Peter the Great. Quaestio Rossica, 5(2), 329–353. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2017.2.226

Issue

Section

Problema voluminis