The prices of books were so
high as to make them unattainable. Karamzin's _History of the Russian
Empire_ sold at fifty-five rubles per copy. The royal library, which had
been founded by the Jewish court physician Sanchez, contained only eight
Russian books during the reign of Alexander I, and not many more were
added by his successor. The dramatic art developed by the Jewish
playwright Nebakhovich remained for a long time in the same state as
when he ceased his work.[23] If Russia was the most powerful, it
continued to be the most fanatical and uncivilized country in Europe.
All who had occasion to visit and study it during the first half of the
nineteenth century testify to its deplorable intellectual status.
According to a very ingenious and observing writer, quoted by Buckle in
his _History of Civilization_, it consisted of but two ranks, the
highest and the lowest, or the nobility and the serfs: _Les marchands,
qui formaient une classe moyenne, sont en si petit nombre qu'il ne
peuvent marquer dans l'etat; d'ailleurs presque tous sont etrangers_.
The higher classes were distinguished for "a total absence of all
rational tastes on literary topics.
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