“THE IMPRINTED PAST”: ILLUSTRATIONS IN PRE-REVOLUTIONARY SCHOOL TEXTBOOKS ON RUSSIAN HISTORY (LATE 1870S — 1914)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of visual material of pre-revolutionary school textbooks on Russian history for junior and senior classes of secondary educational institutions (gymnasiums), recommended for use by the Ministry of Public Education. Despite the large amount of educational literature, only a small part of it contained illustrations (17 items out of 54). The images were intended both for the visualization of the studied material (lithographs of monuments, frescoes, ancient coins, etc.), and for the formation of a standardized image of the past. Illustrations on a military theme were supposed to show the heroism of Russian soldiers. A separate section of the article is devoted to ways of visual representation of the monarchs of the Romanov dynasty. The historical narrative of school textbooks was formed around the deeds of monarchs, which could not but affect the content of the material. This was especially clearly reflected in the image of Peter I, the illustrations dedicated to him are distinguished by a variety of scenes. The lack of visual material for school textbooks forced the authors to use famous paintings for historical ones, changing their names and meaning. The captions to the reproductions contributed to the perception needed by the authors of textbooks, or completely changed the original meaning laid down by the artist in the picture. Thus, the illustrative material turned out to be secondary in relation to the text.

Keywords: historical policy, Ministry of Public Education, school textbooks, illustrations, representation of authority, teaching of national history