The memoirs offered to the reader belong to Pyotr Ivanovich Shchukin, a representative of one of the famous merchant families, collector-patron, creator of the private museum "Russian Antiquities." They are written in a lively, figurative language and cover the second half of the XIX - early XX centuries. The Memoirs were first published in 1912 by the author himself in the amount of 50 copies and have long become a bibliographic rarity. This, updated and commented edition introduces the history of "Moscow Merchant," with paintings of the life of Russian patrons, famous artists, scientists, antiquaries and collectors close to P.I. Shchukin. The book is designed for a wide range of readers.