Pushkin - Пушкин. - 1920

Pushkin. Ruslan and Lyudmila. The Queen of Spades. Prague, 1920

Alexander Pushkin conceived of one of his first major works, the romantic poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila," while still a student at the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum. He drew inspiration from the Italian poet Ludovico Ariosto, the French philosopher Voltaire, the historical works of Mikhail Karamzin, and Russian folklore. The poetic form in which Pushkin wrote the poem became popular, and the work itself brought him fame.
The tale is set in Ancient Rus'. The protagonist, the hero Ruslan, embarks on a journey to rescue his fiancée, Lyudmila, the daughter of Prince Vladimir of Kyiv. She has been kidnapped by the evil sorcerer Chernomor.

The story "The Queen of Spades" was likely intended for the almanac "Troychatka," a collaboration with Gogol and Vladimir Odoevsky, but this almanac was never published. Pushkin published "The Queen of Spades" in the second volume of the journal "Library for Reading" in 1834. "Library," founded shortly before, quickly became the most popular journal in Russia, primarily due to the renowned authors attracted by the unprecedentedly large royalties. That same year, Pushkin included "The Queen of Spades" in his collection of short stories.