RAZDORSKY A.I. Voronezh Customs and Tavern Books of the 50–70s of the 17th Century as a Historical Source

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.15

Alexey I. Razdorsky, Doctor of Sciences (History), Leading Researcher, Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Petrozavodskaya St, 7, 197110 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation; Head of the Federal Center for Regional Studies, National Library of Russia, Sadovaya St, 18, 191069 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation,

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Abstract. Introduction. Customs and tavern books are the main mass sources on the history of trade, customs, and the drinking business of the 17th – the first half of the 18th century. In Voronezh, one of the largest cities in southern Russia, 18 such documents have been preserved. The article analyzes the structure and content of ten Voronezh customs and tavern books in the 50s and 70s of the 17th century, which have so far been ignored in Russian historiography. Methods and materials. The Voronezh customs and tavern books, which are kept in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts and the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library, have been scanned. Their analysis was carried out using traditional methods of historical source studies: historical-diplomatic, historical-comparative, and historical-typological. Analysis. The information available in Voronezh customs records is extremely concise and contains only summary reports on the amounts collected from traders. Based on these data, it is possible to trace seasonal fluctuations in the activity of the local market. In addition, the weather indicators of customs collection are comparable in dynamics and comparable with similar data for other cities, which makes it possible to indirectly assess the scale of trade carried out in Voronezh. The records of the tavern business are more detailed and allow you to establish the volume of production and sale of alcoholic beverages, their cost, selling prices, and the size of the drinking profit. Results. An analysis of Voronezh customs and tavern books indicates that, firstly, these documents, which even belonged to the same region and were compiled in neighboring cities, usually had more or less significant differences in their formulas and, secondly, that the local traditions of maintaining customs and tavern books were characterized by significant stability.

Key words: customs books, tavern books, source studies, archeography, Voronezh.

Citation. Razdorsky A.I. Voronezh Customs and Tavern Books of the 50–70s of the 17th Century as a Historical Source. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2026, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 182-190. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2026.1.15

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