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title page, Description of Rostov the Great with illustrations by A. A. Titov (1891)
12020-12-22T12:18:43-05:00Illustrated Russian Guide (to Rostov)11plain2020-12-22T13:06:17-05:00Andrei Aleksandrovich Titov (1844-1911) was one of the most prolific and accomplished scholars of the late 19th century. He matters to our story because he is - or is not - the author of the illustrated guide of Rostov available for purchase in the kremlin museum for 50 kopeks.
Baedeker describes the book for purchase - in exchange for 50 kopeks - as an "illustrated Russian guide" by A. Titov. He might, therefore, refer to the Description of Rostov the Great(Opisanie Rostova Velikogo) Titov published in 1891 - a volume that contained two engraved views of the city, as well as a town plan. (His shorter Rostov the Great: a historical survey cost only 10 kopeks.) Then again, Baedeker might refer to the heavily illustrated guide to the Rostov Kremlin published in 1912. (After all, two city views would not have qualified the 1891 work as an "illustrated" volume.) It isn't a slam-dunk case, however. The 1912 volume is brimming with illustrations, and it celebrates Titov's work, but it was written by V. A. Talitskii.
In the end, Baedeker most likely refers to the 1911 museum guide that is - get this - mentioned in the heavily illustrated 1912 guide, which in turn builds on the foundation laid by Titov in 1891. This slimmer museum guide was chock-full of descriptions of the icons a visitor would encounter as she made her way through the "Garden Tower" in which the museum was housed. But it was written by I. N. Bogoslovskii - a far cry from the venerable Titov.
