A Russian Merchant's Tale

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 labourers for more than 40 years, Ivan Alekseevich Tolch'nov 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 micro-history to interpret the diary, David L. Ransel vividly brings to life Tolch'nov'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.