The work of Academician M. M. Bogoslovsky (1867–1929) is unconditionally recognized as a classic work of the historical and biographical genre, which remains the most complete study of the personality of Peter the Great and the era of Peter the Great’s reforms. The first volume is dedicated to the period from the birth of Tsarevich Peter on May 30, 1672 to the events March 9, 1697 (the Zykler conspiracy), as well as his first trip abroad to Courland, Brandenburg and Holland. The publication is illustrated with portraits of Peter I, made from life, as well as those subsequently created by Russian and foreign artists based on originals from Peter’s time.