The present volume contains Russian folk tales that circulated in cheap prints throughout the country in the early 19th century. The doctor, philologist, and translator Gotthelf Anton Dietrich (1797-1868) has compiled a selection of tales from this source, some of which originate from broader Russian mythological and fairy tale traditions, such as those surrounding the mythical Russian knight Ilija Muromer (Ilja Muromez), a heroic figure from the Kievan Round Table. It includes a foreword by Jacob Grimm discussing the similarities and differences between Russian and German folk tales.