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Russia Engages the World, 1453-1825
1453 Through the Reign of Ivan the Terrible (1533-1584) The Time of Troubles to the First Romanovs (1598-1682) Peter the Great and His Legacy (1682-1762) The Age of Catherine the Great (1762-1801) The Reign of Emperor Alexander I (1801-1825)

                                     

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Russia's Globalization:
A Key

Events marked Russia Symbol are specific to Muscovy/Russia's internal development.
Those marked World Symbol are important world historical or cultural events.
Engagement Symbol indicates specific points of sociocultural or military engagement between Muscovy/Russia and foreign powers or individuals.


Russia Symbol   A Global Empire’s Attention and Favor
    A Global Empire’s Attention and Favor
NYPL, Spencer Collection
Engagement Symbol   Russian Merchant to the Americas
    Russian Merchant to the Americas
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division

Russia Symbol   Catherine in Her Later Years
    Catherine in Her Later Years
NYPL, Slavic and Baltic Division
Engagement Symbol   The Romanov’s Heirs Saluted by Venice
    The Romanov’s Heirs Saluted by Venice
NYPL, Spencer Collection
Engagement Symbol   The Costume of Russia’s Many Peoples, on Paper
    The Costume of Russia’s Many Peoples, on Paper
NYPL, Spencer Collection
Engagement Symbol   Mughal Splendors
    Mughal Splendors
NYPL, General Research Division
The Costume of Russia’s Many Peoples, on Paper
Photographic Services & Permissions
Engagement Symbol  The Costume of Russia’s Many Peoples, on Paper  


Johann Gottlieb Georgi (1738–1802)
Description de toutes les nations de l’empire de Russie [A Description of All the Nationalities of the Russian Empire]
St. Petersburg: J. C. Shnoor (Shnor), 1776–77
NYPL, Spencer Collection

One product of Catherine the Great’s “Academy Expedition” of 1768–74 – so-called because it was sponsored by the Academy of Sciences – was the first ethnographic survey of the Russian Empire, showing the world the diversity of its inhabitants (including this shaman of the Tungus, a Siberian people of reindeer herders), their customs, economic life, and religion. Variations on Georgi’s Description were published in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.