“Picturesque Russia (Ghivopisnaya Rossia)” (volume 12, part 1) as a Source on the History of the East Siberian territory of the Russian Empire

The article carried out a textual analysis of Part 1 of Volume 12 of -Picturesque Russia.Our Fatherland in its land, historical, tribal, economic and everyday meaning‖, which has the subtitle -Eastern outskirts of Russia.Eastern Siberia‖.Published in 1895, the encyclopedic publication is a valuable historical source, which reveals facts related to the development of East Siberian territories, the socio-economic status of indigenous Siberian peoples, as well as the features of visualization of these facts.The purpose of the study was to identify the peculiarities of the formation of the image of Eastern Siberia at the turn of the 19 th -20 th centuries in encyclopedic texts and in illustrations accompanying these texts.Part 1 of Volume 12 of -Picturesque Russia‖ presents a holistic and multifaceted image of the Eastern Siberian territories as longdeveloped by immigrants from Central Russia.The region is seen as promising, rich, inhabited by diverse peoples with special religious and everyday traits and habits.Representation of the image of Eastern Siberia is associated with the creation of a significant number of landscapes, large settlements, portraits of people in national clothes, as well as images of religious rites.The concept of integrating text and visual images was effectively implemented, making -Picturesque Russia‖ the most important historical source, revealing the particularities of the historical thinking of educated people in Russia at the turn of the 19 th -20 th centuries.