Russian writer Ivan Goncharov was a notable figure in 19th-century travel literature. He chronicled his world tour in his book Frigate “Pallada” (1858). This is the eighth book we review in our series of historical travel stories.

Goncharov wrote the book between 1854 and 1856, drawing on a diary he kept as secretary to Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin during Putyatin’s 1852-1854 around-the-world expedition aboard the frigate Pallada. The book became a bestseller in imperial Russia. In “A World of Empires,” Edyta Bojanowska uses Goncharov’s travelogue as a window onto global imperial history in the mid-19th century.

The Pallada was a 52-gun sailing frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy, built in 1832 at the Admiralty Shipyard in Saint Petersburg.

In the autumn of 1852, Goncharov received an invitation to join the Admiral Putyatin-led around-the-world expedition through England, Africa, and Japan, returning to Russia on a diplomatic mission to open trade with Japan.

They traveled via England, the Cape of Good Hope, Java, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Shanghai to Nagasaki, mirroring Western diplomatic efforts.

Goncharov offers observations on imperial expansion, cooperation, and competition. Britain’s global ascendancy leaves him both awed and resentful. In Southeast Asia, he recognizes an increasingly interlocking world, with vibrant trading hubs whose networks encircle the globe. Traveling overland back home, Goncharov presents Russia’s colonizing rule in Siberia as a positive imperial model, in contrast to Western ones.

Although all the book’s characters were real people (some of them very well known), none appeared under their real names in the pre-1917 editions. Some were given nicknames (Major General Alexander Khalezov appeared as Oldman, Дед); others, such as the author and scientist (later academician) Konstantin Posyet and the ethnographer and scholar Archimandrite Avvakum (Dmitry S. Chestnoy, 1801–1866), were represented by the first letters of their names. For decades, readers were unaware of the true identities of the people behind the book’s characters.

Shortly before Goncharov published his famous novel Oblomov, the book became a classic of Russian travel writing, praised for its sharp observations, humor, and rich descriptions of global empires. You can explore the text via the Internet Archive Digital Library.

Russia emerges here as an increasingly assertive empire, eager to position itself on the world stage alongside its American and European rivals and fully conversant with the ideologies of the civilizing mission and race.

Historical Travel Stories: Frigate “Pallada” – A Tour Around the World, compiled by Tor Kjolberg.

Previous articles in our series of historic travel stories:
Safarnama – the Book of Travels
Journey Through Wales
The Customs of Cambodia
Gulliver’s Travels
Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes