The fourth volume of A. Fet’s Works and Letters in 20 volumes includes essay prose: letters “From Abroad”, published in Sovremennik in 1856-1857, and the essays “From the Village”, which were sensational in their time, in which Fet captured his own agricultural experience of the 1860s - 1870s. Turning to the popular genre of foreign letters, Fet managed to say his word as a writer-traveler, leaving vivid sketches of what he saw in Germany and France. Descriptions of morals and artistic monuments bear the stamp of the originality of the poet’s worldview. The essays devoted to Fet’s attempts to actively participate in the construction of new economic relations on earth after the abolition of serfdom are not only a vivid journalistic document, but also largely remain relevant in the era of new economic reforms. The publication contains detailed comments and numerous illustrations.