Here are some images of my favorite hardstone, Faberge-like animals from my collections with stories about how they were created and why
Written, under the order of Prince Odoievsky-Maslov, Chief of Administration of the Imperial Court in Moscow, by S. de Bartenev
About the Book
This book is a very rare original first edition copy of a 145 page vistor's guide published in Moscow in 1912 by the Russian Orthodox Synod press, under the permission of the Minister of the Imperial Court for Emperor Nicholas II, Aide de Camp Baron Freederickz.
This guide is in fact a reference book for all tourists to the Palace in 1912, and gives text to accompany each stage of their walking tour of the Palace. All photographs are the originals to the guide. I have tried not to "modernize" the language of the original French when translating to English. Rather, I have tried to retain the original flavor in my translation. Please do not write me that some terms or names are different today. I know. Instead of changing the original, I have left them as found; for example, the original guide is quite clear in the name "Terems" as being in the plural, while today the name of the building is usually the singular "Terem." Similarly, when the text reads that a certain building "exists today" the reference is to 1912. The only modern concession is the calculation of puds of building material used for the current Palace building into modern US and metric equivalents for the ease of the reader.
This guide offers a rare glimpse into the Kremlin as it existed at the end of Imperial times, and documents much which has been lost to us after 1918. It is as close as we can hope to come today to walk through the Kremlin as it actually was during the reign of Nicholas II. We hope that you find this as interesting, useful and valuable a resource as we have. We are pleased to share it with you.
Rob Moshein
Alexander Palace Time Machine
September 2008
rob@thecellaraustin.com
