3-005-518 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Kirghiz Cradle, 1870. From a 42-page album of photographs depicting the Altai, or Altay, region of eastern Siberia and adjoining parts of present-day Kazakhstan, including the city of Semipalatinsk. Compiled in 1870 by L.K. Poltoratskaia, the work is part of a collection of albums in the Prints Division of the National Library of Russia documenting expeditions to Siberia and the Russian Far East undertaken mostly in the late 19th century. The photographs depict glaciers, mountains, rivers, lakes and other landscapes, the local Kyrgyz people, and scenes from Semipalatinsk.