Karamzin and Money

As it is widely known, Karamzin’s role in changing the institutional nature of Russian letters and of the social status of writers was immense. It is impossible to understand this role without analyzing Karamzin’s financial practices and attitude to money and monetary transactions. This article discusses three different but interconnected questions already debated by scholars without any conclusive results: the notorious issue of a source of funding for his European travels, his status as a literary professional, and his economic views. The authors present actual figures and quantifiable data that shed new light upon these issues and provide a framework for their analysis.