Case file · Non-fiction & research literature
Afanasyev's Russian Fairy Tales
The first volume of Alexander Afanasyev's 'Narodnye russkie skazki' appeared in Moscow in 1855; the eight volumes (to 1863) gave the classic texts of Baba Yaga, Koschei the Deathless, Vasilisa and the Firebird.
1855 CE · 55.76, 37.61 · status: official
The account
Afanasyev drew on manuscripts of the Russian Geographical Society and Dal's collection, and later wrote 'The Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature' (1865–69), interpreting folk beliefs as myths of nature. His bawdy 'Secret Tales' had to be published anonymously in Geneva.