Uncensored folk jokes, or "Russian folk pictures", published in the 19th century

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Popular prints appeared in Russia in the middle of the 17th century. At first they were called “fryazhsky pictures”, later “amusing sheets”, and then “common pictures” or “simple people”. And only from the second half of the 19th century they began to be called "Lubki". Dmitry Rovinsky made a huge contribution to collecting pictures, having published the collection "Russian Folk Pictures". In our review there are 20 popular prints from this collection, which you can look at endlessly, discovering a lot of interesting, new and interesting things.

Tempora mutantur (times change) is a Latin proverb. Even in the first half of the 20th century, everything that was popular was considered unworthy of the attention of intelligent and enlightened people, and the scientists themselves considered it humiliating to be interested in, for example, popular prints. In 1824, the famous archaeologist Snegirev, who wrote an article on popular prints and intended to read it at a meeting of the Society of Lovers of Russian Literature, was worried that "some of the members doubt whether the Society can be allowed to talk about such a vulgar, areal subject."

Not only that, back in the 1840s Belinsky had to vigorously defend Dahl from the aristocrats, who reproached the writer for his love of the common people. "", - wrote Belinsky.

But even at that time there were happy exceptions - individuals who were able to perform real heroic deeds in spite of social taboos. An example of such a feat is the work of Rovinsky "Russian folk pictures".

"Russian folk pictures" - these are three volumes of an atlas and five volumes of text. A bright popular print is attached to each tex. The first volume of the atlas contains "Fairy Tales and Amusing Sheets", the second - "Historical Sheets", the third - "Spiritual Sheets". The Atlas was published in only 250 copies to avoid censorship. Text volumes are an appendix to the atlas. The first three describe the images collected in the atlas. It should be noted that each description was made in the most detailed way, observing the spelling of the original, indicating later samples, the size of the picture and the method of engraving were indicated. In total, the book describes about 8000 pictures.

The fourth volume is valuable material for various references that may be required in the work. The fourth volume of the text "- said Rovinsky -". The second half of this volume is an alphabetical index to the entire edition.

The fifth volume is divided into five chapters: • Chapter 1. Folk pictures, carved in wood. Engraving on copper. • Chapter 2. Where did our engravers borrow translations (originals) for their pictures. Poshib, or style, of drawing and composition in folk pictures. The coloring of the old folk pictures was very careful. Notes on folk pictures in the West and among the peoples of the East, in India, Japan, China and Java. Folk pictures, engraved in black manner. • Chapter 3. Sale of folk pictures. Purpose and use of them. Supervision of the production of folk pictures and their censorship. Censorship of royal portraits. • Chapter 4. Woman (according to the views of the Bee). Marriage. • Chapter 5. Teaching in the old years. • Chapter 6. Calendars and almanacs. • Chapter 7. Easy reading. • Chapter 8. Legends. • Chapter 9. Folk amusements. Drunkenness. Diseases and drugs against them. • Chapter 10. Music and dance. Theatrical performances in Russia. • Chapter 11. Jokes and jesters. • Chapter 12. Joke lists for foreigners. Cartoons of the French in 1812. • Chapter 13. Popular pilgrimage. • Chapter 14. Pictures published by order of the government.

Even such a short table of contents points to the infinite variety of the content of the folk picture. A popular print for the people replaced a newspaper, a magazine, a story, a novel, a cartoon publication - everything that the intelligentsia should have given him, looking at him as one of their smaller brothers.

Folk pictures began to be called popular prints at the beginning of the 20th century. The name is interpreted by scientists in different ways. Some believe that this is a derivative of the word "bast", on which the first pictures were cut, others talk about cheap popular boxes, in which pictures for sale were placed, and, according to Rovinsky, the word popular printed refers to everything that was done fragilely, badly, on whip up.

In the West, engraved pictures appeared in the XII century, and they were the cheapest way to convey to the people the images of saints, the Bible and the Apocalypse in pictures. In Russia, engraving began at the same time as typography: already to the first printed book "The Apostle", which came out in 1564, the first engraving was attached - the image of the Evangelist Luke on wood. Popular prints began to appear in separate sheets only in the 17th century. This initiative was supported by Peter I himself, who subscribed craftsmen from abroad and paid them a salary from the treasury. This practice stopped only in 1827.

In the second half of the 18th century, silversmiths in the village of Izmailovo were engaged in cutting boards for folk pictures. They cut pictures on wood or copper, and the pictures were printed at Akhmetyev's figure factory in Moscow, near the Savior in Spassky. Printers also worked in the Kovrovsky district, in the Vladimir province, in the village of Bogdanovka, as well as in Pochaevsky, Kiev and Solovetsky monasteries.

The old engravers took the theme for the drawings from images in churches or from the walls of the royal chambers. In the 18th century, many photographs were taken from German, French and Italian pictures. Quite often, a homebrew text was added to them, which sometimes did not fit the content of the picture at all.

It was possible to buy popular prints in Moscow in the gaps at Nikolskaya Street, at the Church of the Grebnevskaya Mother of God, at the Trinity of Sheets, at the Novgorod courtyard and mainly at the Spassky Gate. Quite often they were bought instead of wooden images, as well as for teaching children.

At first, the pictures were not subject to censorship, but since 1674 there have been decrees banning such pictures. But folk pictures were still published and sold, not wanting to know about any prohibitions or any decrees. In 1850, by the Highest order, “the Moscow governor-general, Count Zakrevsky, ordered the breeders of folk pictures to destroy all boards that did not have censorship permission, and henceforth not to print them without it. In fulfillment of this order, the breeders collected all the old copper boards, chopped them into pieces with the participation of the police and sold them for scrap in the bell row. This is how the uncensored folk joke ceased to exist”.

Historical values have always interested scientists. So it exists today 10 legendary artifacts from myths of different countries that archaeologists are looking for to this day and do not lose hope of finding.