The Horseman

This edition of Pyotr Ershov's fairy tale "The Little Humpbacked Horse", which has become a classic of Russian children's literature, is decorated with magnificent color illustrations by A. Afanasiev. Afanasyev. The edition also includes excerpts from the memoirs about Ershov, left by his university friend A. K. Yaroslavtsev. K. Yaroslavtsev, as well as a little-known verse version of the fairy tale about the Humpbacked Horse by A. A. Fedorov-Davydov, one of the founders of the magazine Murzilka. His text is illustrated with color drawings by E. Sokolov. Sokolov. The fairy tale "The Humpbacked Horse", which became a classic, made Pyotr Ershov famous. His interest in literature was born during his studies at St. Petersburg University. At this time Ershov met Zhukovsky and Pushkin, who highly appreciated "Hunchback". Nineteen-year-old Ershov drew the plot of this tale from folk tales, talentedly translating them into a poetic form. For the first time "Hunchback" was published in full in 1834 and was reprinted several times. However, in 1843 this tale by Ershov was banned by the Tsarist censorship and by the middle of the 19th century was almost completely forgotten. It began to be published again after Yershov revised it in 1856; since then, the text of The Skate has not changed. In Soviet times, the total circulation of this tale exceeded seven million copies. After graduating from the Faculty of History and Philology, Ershov returned to his native Tobolsk, where he eventually became director of the gymnasium. Teaching with its endless repetition of annual courses weighed on the writer, although he was an excellent teacher - his students loved him. Literature remained for Ershov fresh air of creativity, which he lacked in the province. He wrote stories and plays for the theater, but none of these works could not rise to the level of "The Humpbacked Horse". His fairy tale in this edition is decorated with magnificent color illustrations by Alexei Fyodorovich Afanasyev. The future artist was born in 1850 in the family of a court cook. His passion for drawing led him to the Academy of Arts, where he was a free student for eight years. In 1905 Afanasyev headed the Penza Art School. His illustrations for "The Humpbacked Horse" at the end of the XIX century became the most famous series of the artist's works; later the best of them were printed as separate postcards. In mid-May 1924, the first issue of the children's magazine Murzilka was printed in Moscow. It got its name from the nickname of a puppy - the hero of the story of children's writer A. A. Fedorov-Davydov, who became one of the founders of this publication. The writer from the very beginning of his literary work attracted exactly children's literature. The future writer was born into a family of teachers, and this largely determined his own life path. Before the revolution, Fedorov-Davydlov was the editor and publisher of such magazines for children as "Muravey" and "Svetlyachok", which with their lively syllable and bright content favorably differed from many "well-meaning" publications for children of tsarist Russia, which propagandized autocracy. The writer translated works by the Grimm brothers and Andersen; in 1908 he published a collection of Russian folk tales. After the revolution, Fedorov-Dvydov did not change his interests, writing several dozen 40 books for children. Among them was his author's version of the fairy tale of the Hunchback. In this edition it is illustrated with beautiful works by the famous Moscow artist and graphic artist Evgeny Gavrilovich Sokolov, whose favorite theme was drawings on the themes of Russian folk songs and proverbs. The future painter was born in 1880 in a noble Novgorod family. For three years he studied painting at the von Stuck Academy in Munich, and after returning to Russia, he began working as a theater artist.