“Istoricheskaya illustratsiya” publishing house issued “Album of Petrine Navigator”. This book represents the first time publication of the manuscript “Album of Petrine Navigator” kept in the Scientific and Historical Archive of Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1697, together with the Great Embassy a group of several young Russian nobles went from Moscow to Western Europe. By decree of the tsar they had to learn navigation and shipbuilding in the Netherlands, as well as in Italy, in the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas, which were the centers of naval science. Russian navigators took naval courses in Venetian Naval Academy and in the famous Nautika School, located in Perast (Montenegro today) under a supervision of the famous navigator and mathematician Marko Martinovic. Apart from theoretical studies Russian navigators also had a practical course of navigation in the Adriatic.

One of these young men brought a colorful album of 36 water-color pictures of sail and rowing vessels navigating in the Mediterranean (polacca, galley, galleass, galliot, Frigatoon, tartan, gondola, felucca et al.) to Russia. Thoroughly designed illustrations embody many details of ship architecture, decorations, decking and cordage. The text that accompanies the pictures gives notions on a level of development and specific features of navigation in the Mediterranean.

Apart from publication of the Album of Petrine Navigator this edition includes scientific preface, archeographical introduction, transcribing of the text written in cursive of the end of the 17th century, as well as a glossary of terms, outdated and infrequent words.

The publication has been done with the financial support from the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation in the frames of Federal program “The culture of Russia”