Folk Russian Tales Illustrated by T. Mavrina

In the middle of the 19th century, historian and folklorist Alexander Nikolaevich Afanasyev prepared and published a collection in eight volumes of all known folk Russian tales at that time. Over the past one and a half centuries, no more comprehensive edition of Russian folklore has appeared. The basis of the collection consisted of archival materials from the Russian Geographical Society and the recordings of Vladimir Dal. The tales came from various regions of Russia: Moscow, Orenburg, Kazan, Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Simbirsk, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Kursk, Yenisei, Ryazan, Saratov, Astrakhan, Tambov… As folklorist Vladimir Anikin believes, with his publication, A. N. Afanasyev saved invaluable artistic works of the people from oblivion for future generations; without him, the treasures of fairy-tale folklore could have been lost and perished. A. Afanasyev's tales inspired the plots of many writers and motivated many artists. Among them was Tatyana Mavrina, whose unique artistic language perfectly matched the poetic style of folk tales.