PrefaceCenturies have passed since the brilliant Columbus discovered and gave humanity the continent of the New World, but for us Russians it still remains terra incognita and we still have to wait for our Columbus, who would rediscover America - especially for us Despite the fact that we call and unfeignedly consider the Americans to be our transatlantic friends, we do not know them at all. In this regard, our literature has not yet produced a single work that would bear the stamp of real study, or at least attentive, skillful, and not superficial observation. I had to see this for myself. Going overseas, I carefully re-read the existing books about the United States, and at every step I was sadly convinced of their inconsistency with reality. And it’s remarkable that in these books I constantly encountered direct fictions, obviously designed for effect, while real life found in them only the most pale, popular reflection. Meanwhile, the real life of the young American people presents a mass of most interesting and instructive phenomena, which in their unadorned form are immeasurably more interesting than any fiction of the poor imagination of the authors of our books about it. Living overseas, I was amazed at every step by the ebullience and originality of American life and shared the results of my observations and studies with various periodicals. According to my friends, my modest notes revealed several features in American life that had not previously been reflected in Russian literature. Seizing on this compliment, I decided to publish a separate book, which included a significant part of my letters and essays, both already published and new. If this book had met with even the slightest fraction of the sympathy with which my, of course, impartial friends treated my letters, it would have been the best reward for the author and the best encouragement for further study of the truly interesting and instructive life of the American people, among whom he will be live and act for a little more time. St. Petersburg. September 7, 1881.