The Great Russian Fair: Nizhnii Novgorod 1840–90

340 Pages·1990·36.171 MB·English

by  Anne Lincoln Fitzpatrick (auth.)

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Petersburg is the mind o[ Russia
Moscow - her heart
and Nizhnii is her pocket
(A saying from the 1830s, quoted in N. A.
Bogoroditskaia, 'Stranichki istorii Nizhegorodskoi
iarmarki', Voprosy istorii (1979) no. 10, p. 182)
Contents
Preface viii
List of Plates x
Listof Maps xv
Introduction 1
1 Historical Background 14
2 Commerce at the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair 34
(i) Overview 34
(ii) Tea 47
(iii) Cotton Goods 56
(iv) Iron 64
(v) Goods Bought and Sold by the Peasants 74
(vi) Persian and Central Asian Trade 80
(vii) Business Transaction at the Fair 92
3 The Social Composition of the Traders at the
Nizhnii Novgorod Fair 104
4 The Nizhnii Novgorod Fair Administration 142
5 Daily Life and Entertainment at the Fair 171
Conclusion 202
Maps 213
Abbreviations of Sources 217
Notes 218
Select Bibliography 269
Index 282
vii
Preface
It is the aim of this work to look at various facets of the Nizhnii
Novgorod Fair - its commercial role, its social make-up, its adminis
trative history and its cultural and day-to-day life. I have concentrated
a great deal of attention upon description of the fair for there is very
little material relating to this fascinating topic in English, and the
functioning of fairs generally has received scant attention in the
Russian field. In addition, it has been my intention to examine the
effects of diminishing backwardness upon the fair and to see how
railway construction, the developing internal market, the growing
sophistication of the merchants and evolving state policy impacted
upon the different aspects of life at Nizhnii. When I began working
on this theme years aga as a student, I intended to write an all
encompassing account of the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair and its role in
Russian commerce. Realising the impossibility of ever treating in
their entirety all the nuances of this very broad topic, I now look
forward to all the peripheral areas of study which this initial
examination leaves untouched or unfinished. The personalities of the
elusive merchant administrators, the role of Nizhnii in the national
trade network, the activities of Asian merchants in Russian commerce,
the merchant community of the town of Nizhnii Novgorod and the
impact of the railway on trade patterns are just a few of the areas
that demand further treatment.
Although dealing with a topic which is above all economic in
importance, I have attempted to maintain the perspective of an
historian, for such is my training. I have used data on deliveries and
sales with some trepidation for the reliability of even the official
statistics is questionable.1t is important to accept them as approximate
and to see them as part of the general picture.
In writing this book it has been a great disappointment that I was
unable to visit the city of Gor'kii (formerly Nizhnii Novgorod) to see
the site of the fair and to use the local archives. During my ten
month stay in the Soviet Union, Gor'kii was a 'closed city'. Hopefully
this situation will change, allowing future scholars access to materials
pertaining directly to the operation of the fair.
I am indebted to a great many people who helped me du ring the
course of my work. It was S. Frederick Starr who first proposed the
Vlll
Preface IX
topic and for this I am most grateful. My dissertation advisor, Walter
Sablinsky, along with Fred Carstensen, provided very helpful guidance
during the early phase of my work, and Harry Shukman offered
constructive comments on the finished dissertation coupled with kind
encouragement on rewriting for publication. More recently I have
been the beneficiary of invaluable comments and criticisms from Olga
Crisp as weIl as very helpful comments from Thomas Owen, Alfred
Rieber, and Fred Carstensen.
Any errors are, of course, my own responsibility.
My gratitude is also extended to the International Research and
Exchanges Board (IREX) which made it possible for me to work in
the archives in Moscow and Leningrad in 1973-4. The United States
Office of Education provided much appreciated additional support.
I wish to express my gratitude, too, to my Moscow State University
advisor, V. A. Fedorov; to the staff of the Lenin Library, the Central
State Historical Archive in Leningrad, the Central State Archive of
the City of Moscow, the Russian Centre of St Antony's College,
Oxford, the Bodleian Library, the Library of Congress, the New
York Public Library, Old Dominion University Library and the
Interlibrary Loan Division of the Norfolk Public Library. Kathy Price
worked long hours to prepare the manuscript and lohn Wall ace
helped tremendously with the proof-reading.
Without the support and encouragement of Francis Fitzpatrick and
loan Tannen I could never have brought this work to its completion.
In addition, I am indebted to Mittie Wilson who helped care for my
children while I se queste red myself in various libraries. Finally my
husband, Peter, has buoyantly and unceasingly supported my efforts
despite all the hardships which this type of endeavour entails.
A.L.F.
List of Plates
l(a) The Makar'ev Monastery (from J. Holman, Travels through
Russia, Siberia, Po land, Austria, Saxony, Prussia, Hanover,
London, 1825; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
l(b) Shops at the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair (from the Print and
Photog raph Division of the Library of Congress).
2(a) The Glavnyi dom, built by A. A. Betankur, 1818-22 (from
A. P. Mel'nikov, Stoletie Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki, 1817-
1917, Moscow, 1917; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
2(b) A. A. Betankur, builder of the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair (from
A. P. Mel'nikov, Stoletie Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki, 1817-
1917, Moscow, 1917; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
3(a) The Fair shops during the flood of 1926 (from Nizhegorodskaia
iarmarka. 5 let. 1922-1926, n.p., n.d.; courtesy of the Library
of Congress).
3(b) One of the busy streets of the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair (from
the Print and Photograph Division of the Library of Congress).
4(a) The Siberian wharf, after it was rebuilt of stone (from
A. P. Mel'nikov, Stoletie Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki, 1817-
1917, Moscow, 1917; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
4(b) View of the tartar mosque from the Cathedral (from
A. P. Mel'nikov, Stoletie Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki, 1817-
1917, Moscow, 1917; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
5(a) The great bell market at the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair (from the
Print and Photog raph Division of the Library of Congress).
5(b) The fur market at the Nizhnii Novgorod Fair (from E. C.
Phillips, Russia, the Land 01 the Great White Czar, London,
1904; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
6(a) The floating bridge over the Oka and the Fair at Nizhnii
Novgorod (from the Print and Photograph Division of the
Library of Congress).
6(b) Railway street and the new church at the Nizhnii Novgorod
Fair (from the Print and Photograph Division of the Library
of Congress).
7 The Kremlin Wall in the town of Nizhnii Novgorod (from T.
MicheIl, Russian Pietures Drawn with Pen and Pencil, London,
1889; courtesy of the Library of Congress).
x