Abstract: The article focuses on one of the types of early monuments of the autobiographical genre – commercial books containing autobiographical notes. The Early modern period saw gradual evolution of manuscript book writing in Russia, which in turn led to the emergence and further evolution of secular genres – memoirs, autobiographical notes and diaries. In the 17th century, the origins of secular genres could arise only among the few intellectual and ruling elites of the Russian state, while the 18th century saw the further democratisation of manuscript culture. The earliest works of the autobiographical genre, created by the representatives of the Third Estate, often included small texts that were parts of other monuments (for example, family chroniclers and chronographs) or notes in manuscripts’ margins and blank sheets rather than separate books. Examples of such monuments include the merchant's commercial books of the 18th – the early 19th centuries: the book of the fund register of Osip Belyankin and the memorandum book of the Kolegovs. The article discusses the general and distinctive features of autobiographical records in the text of both monuments – the time of their appearance, content and form, plot diversity. An analysis of these merchant commercial books allows one to understand how an autobiographical genre – a phenomenon of modern literature – originated and developed, in the framework of a traditional Russian manuscript book.
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