Work
Having retired from active service, the elderly statesman dedicated himself to scholarly pursuits. Feeling that the Russian historiography had been neglected, he discovered and published several legal monuments of great interest, e.g., Russkaya Pravda and Sudebnik of 1550. His magnum opus was the first sketch of Russian history, entitled Russian History Dating Back to the Most Ancient Times and published in 5 volumes after his death. He also compiled the first encyclopedic dictionary of the Russian language.
Scientific merits of Tatischev's work have been disputed even in the 18th century. It is true that he used some chronicles that have since been lost, leading Iakov Lur'e to write of "Tatishchev Information," which he defined as "data unique to that historian," but most of them (notably the Ioachim Chronicle) were of dubious authenticity. It is also true that he could never tell a genuine work from a fake, and some incidents inserted in his history could have been products of his own fancy. Only recently some prominent historians have demonstrated that Tatischev's lost sources may actually be relied on.
Read more about this topic: Vasily Tatishchev
Famous quotes containing the word work:
“People run away from the name subsidy. It is a subsidy. I am not afraid to call it so. It is paid for the purpose of giving a merchant marine to the whole country so that the trade of the whole country will be benefitted thereby, and the men running the ships will of course make a reasonable profit.... Unless we have a merchant marine, our navy if called upon for offensive or defensive work is going to be most defective.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Your children and grandchildren will have their share of happiness; there’s no need to work a like a horse for them.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Every work of art depicts an aspect of reality.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)