Die Geschichte eines russischen Kaufmanns: Leben und Abenteuer von Ivan Alekseevich Tolchënov, basierend auf seinem Tagebuch

Author/Contributor(s):	Ransel, David L
Publisher:	Indiana University Press
Date:	11/26/2008
Binding:	Paperback
Condition:	NEW

Based on the rare diary of an 18th-century Russian provincial merchant, A Russian Merchant's Tale presents a revealing portrait of Russia's little-known commercial class. By recording his daily contacts with a wide array of individuals from lords to laborers for more than 40 years, Ivan Alekseevich Tolchënov opened a window onto the education, work, birth, death, marriage, business, civic, holiday, and religious practices of a social group about which little has been known. Using the tools of microhistory to interpret the diary, David L. Ransel vividly brings to life Tolchënov's self-construction, his relations with family and society, and his entire world of aspirations, achievements, and failures. Challenging prevailing stereotypes of Russian merchants as tradition-bound and narrow-minded, A Russian Merchant's Tale offers important new insights into the social history of imperial Russia.