[RUSSIAN EMPIRE] Collection of 265 Early Postcards of Poltava and the Surrounding Region, ca. 1902–1917

Item #1667

Poltava [then Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire; now Ukraine], ca. 1902–1917. Collection of 265 postcards, comprising photographic, phototype, tinted, color, and pictorial views of Poltava and its environs, together with historical, architectural, ethnographic, and commemorative subjects relating to the city and the Battle of Poltava. Standard postcard formats, generally approximately 9 × 14 cm. Captions chiefly in Russian, frequently accompanied by French; a number postally used with Imperial Russian stamps, cancellations, manuscript correspondence, and foreign destinations.

An extensive visual record of pre-Revolutionary Poltava, documenting the city during the period surrounding the bicentenary of the Battle of Poltava in 1909 and extending into the First World War years. The collection combines general panoramas and street scenes with views of civic and educational institutions, churches and monasteries, monuments, theaters, banks, hospitals, estates, parks, and the semi-rural outskirts of the city. The early portion includes a substantial numbered series produced by Phototypie Scherer, Nabholz & Co., Moscow, with Russian-French captions; the firm's imprint carries the date 1902. Subjects include panoramic views, the Cathedral, churches, monuments, the theater and museum, educational establishments, hospitals, streets, mills, village landscapes, and numerous sites associated with the battlefield.

Several subjects recur in different series and photographic treatments, permitting comparison of the changing presentation of Poltava's principal historical sites during the years immediately before and after the 1909 bicentenary commemorations.

The urban material is similarly broad. The views preserve street architecture, commercial premises, horse-drawn traffic, urban landscaping, and public spaces at a moment when Poltava retained much of its nineteenth-century provincial character.

Condition varies, as expected in a large assembled collection. Many cards are postally used, with stamps, cancellations and manuscript correspondence; others remain unused. Occasional toning, spotting, soiling, handling wear, corner rounding or creasing, manuscript price or inventory marks, and other minor defects are present, with scattered cards showing heavier wear. Images are generally well preserved.

Price: $6,500.00