Our Notes & References

First edition, published in Tbilisi and inscribed by the author, of this work exploring historical links between Georgia and Russia published on the eve of the three-hundred-year jubilee of the House of Romanov.

The book presents a collection of essays about various historical events and artefacts, from Byzantine times up to the 18th century and, interestingly, touching on countries beyond Georgia but mostly within Russian influence, such as Armenia, Moldavia, Central Asia (through Tamerlan) and also Palestine. The underpinning idea of most chapters is, however, a long tradition of political and diplomatic relations between the House of Romanov and Georgian rulers.

Even though Georgia officially became part of the Russian Empire only in 1801, the author implies that spiritual links had been established much earlier thanks to the shared Greek-Orthodox faith, which had arrived to Georgia and Russia many centuries earlier. In a separate chapter, Dzhanashvili also emphasises long-existing personal connections between the courts of Georgia and Russia by telling stories about the Georgian nobles and clergymen who were since ancient times coming to the Court of Moscow to join the Russian service. A way for our author to legitimise the Russian protectorate over Georgia and try to show how natural the integration of the country into the Russian Empire was, due the close historical and cultural links between the two countries.

The work concludes with 40 pages on early sieges of Constantinople by Persians, Scythians and Arabs as related by manuscripts kept in a Georgian Church Museum. The essay incorporates Georgian and Greek printing within its Russian text.

Mose Janashvili (1855–1934) was a Georgian historian, ethnographer and linguist. Born into a Georgian Ingilo community at Qakh (now Azerbaijan), he studied in Tbilisi and Kutaisi, before working as a teacher for several years, from 1875 to 1920; he then became a professor at the Tbilisi State University. He mostly engaged in study of medieval Georgian chronicles and hagiographic literature.

With provenance: from the library of Nicolas Slobodchikoff (1911-91), a figure of the American émigré community. Born in eastern Russia into the family of a lawyer, he took part in the White Movement during the Civil War. When the Bolsheviks consolidated power, his family emigrated first to Harbin (and this copy shows a Chinese inscription to the title-page), and then to San Francisco. Slobodchikoff became one of the co-founders of the Russian Museum in San Francisco and in 1966-91 served as the museum’s director. Under his directorship the institution developed collection of more than 15,000 Russian émigré books, magazines and newspapers.

Scarce, as we couldn’t trace any copies at auction outside Russia.

Provenance

Sofia Nikolaevna (inscribed by the author in black ink on the title: “Vysokouvazhaemoi Sofii Nikolaevne g. [? illegible name of a city] ot avtora. 1913 g. 26 marta” [To most highly respected Sofia Nikolaevna, in the town of [?] from the author. 26 March 1913]); “16…Street…Book” (unclear Chinese characters to the title, in a non-native hand, most probably of an address, possibly of a bookshop or a library); N.A. Slobodchikoff, San Francisco, California (stamps to title and other pages).