The Winter Palace. Stories about the Life of the Imperial Residence

The first volume of the edition covers the late 18th and the early 19th centuries - periods during the reign of Catherine II, her son Paul I and her grandson Alexander I. The articles of G.N.Komelova "The Winter Palace in the 18th century", "Appartments of Catherine II in the Winter Palace", "The Imperial Museum in the Winter Palace" informs the readers about the interiors, location and purposes of private and official rooms of the palace. The character of official life that was going on in the royal residence is focused at in the essays of T.V.Kudriavtseva "Receptions in the Winter Palace" and G.N.Komelova "Public Court Masquerades in the Winter Palace".
The authors of the article "The Opera House of the Winter Palace" G.N.Komelova and A.G.Pobedinskaya tell about the architecture, interior decoration and repertoir of the theatre in Catherine's time.
The richest collections of books of the Winter Palace and architectural decor of the libraries are described in the essay of V.I.Feodorova "The Libraries of the Winter Palace".
The history of the Hanging Garden, other winter gardens and hothouses is brilliantly represented and richly illustrated in the article of L.A.Tarasova and G.A.Miroliubova "The Gardens of the Northern Semiramis". The essay of I.N.Ukhanova and V.I.Feodorova "The Childhood of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich" tells about education of the heir, the future Emperor Paul I, his friends, educators, appartments that he occupied in the palace. There are two historical essays by A.G.Pobedinskaya "The Winter Palace at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. From Catherine II to Nicholas I" and by S.F.Janchenko "Alexander I in the Winter Palace".They are accompanied by portraits, views of interiors, plans and extracts from the memoirs, documentary materials and letters. The following volumes of the edition will be devoted to the life of the royal residence during the period of time between the reign of Nicholas I and Nicholas II, to the events of 1830-1910-s.