Leather-bound gift book "Old Moscow" with overlays

"Old Moscow" by Mikhail Ivanovich Pylyaev is a unique encyclopedia-guide to that mother Moscow, which was legendary already in the XIX century. Unlike imperial St. Petersburg, Moscow remained a royal city, retaining a craving for a free and luxurious life, where the house of any nobleman represented the court of an autocratic ruler in miniature. This is a monument to that now epic era, when the appearance of the city and the unique Moscow atmosphere were determined by famous historical figures - Novikov, Rumyantsev, Suvorov, Orlov, representatives of the most noble families - Naryshkins, Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, Golitsyns. They built palaces and laid out parks, kept theaters, organized festivals, at which the whole city had fun with all its heart for more than one day. The stories that made up this book are rarely found in historical works.
These are unique and vivid moments of life, as they were remembered by contemporaries of these events. Sad, instructive, funny, fascinating - they are all authentic, as are the portraits of the main characters, pictures of Moscow life and views of Moscow and the surrounding area, which are generously illustrated in this edition.