For the first time in Russian, the correspondence of the Russian emperor Alexander I and his Swiss mentor F.-S. Lagarpa, who, after completing his service at the court of Catherine II, took an active part in the political life of Switzerland at the end of the 18th century. and for a year and a half headed the Helvetic Republic created here, and then after the accession of his student came to St. Petersburg and in 1801-1802 had a significant impact on the formation of the concept of liberal reforms in Russia. The first volume of the publication contains over two hundred documents and covers the period from the beginning of the upbringing of the future Alexander I to the second departure of Lagarp from St. Petersburg in May 1802.