Review of the Main Book Publications about Abkhazia by Russian Authors of the 19th Century

The article provides an analytical overview of the books by Russian authors of the 19th century, containing information about Abkhazia. Among the studied editions are well-known books that have widespread use in science, as well as rare ones, which have not been given due attention. The reviewed publications contain information about Abkhazia of a physical-geographical, military-topographic, military-statistical, historical-ethnographic, linguistic and archaeological nature. The article attempts to establish the differences in the authors’ cognitive interest in Abkhazia. The materials of the analyzed texts differ in terms of their volume, some of them represent a section or chapter of a book, and there are also generalizing publications entirely devoted to Abkhazia. Despite the discrepancies encountered between the editions in the description of the ethnic appearance of the Abkhaz people, they all contributed to the accumulation of knowledge about it, and played an important role in the formation of scientific Abkhaz studies. Biased assessments and condemnatory characteristics given by individual authors to historical circumstances have been critically analyzed.