Description:

Catherine II of Russia Czarina


1p partly printed and partly handwritten document in Cyrillic, signed by Russian Empress Catherine II (1729-1796) as "Catherine" in the lower right corner. Numerous handwritten annotations recto and verso, including one in Catherine's hand at left. Neo-Classical frieze depicting soldiers and armaments surrounds perimeter of document. Impression of faint red seal in lower left corner. In very good to near fine condition. Document overall measures 15.625" x 10.625".


Ivan Bogomolov filed this petition endorsed by Catherine II on February 23, 1765. Bogomolov had been in service since 1737 and had participated in Her Majesty Empress Elizabeth Petrovna's elevation to the throne. Since then, Bogomolov had been serving in the Lifeguard Regiment, where he rose to the rank of corporal for respectful conduct. In 1763, an imperial edict appointed Bogmolov supervisor of the Palace of Protection as well as of its garden and toboggan slides. Bogomolov complained that his pay of 30 kopecks a day was insufficient, and that he had not been given an apartment or food allowance, making it impossible to support his wife and children. He therefore requested to retire from the position with a supplement to his pension, or with a one-time grant of money collected on the toboggan slides.


Catherine II penned her instructions in the left margin of the first page (translated): "Place on the retired list with promotion to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and upon retirement, if indeed collected the aforesaid amount of six hundred thirty-one rubles, pay out this amount to him from his own patrimonial office. Catherine."


Taboggan racing on the fabled Russian ice slides, called  "Russian Mountains", was one of Catherine II's favorite winter pastimes. Patrons would scale a 70-foot tall timber tower and then whoosh down a 600-foot long ice ramp on toboggans. Catherine II was so fond of the ice slides that, in the Gardens of Oranienbaum in Saint Petersburg, she had a warm-weather version of them built in 1784 involving wheeled carts on grooved tracks; this was the origin of the modern day roller coaster.


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