The articles on Russian literature of the 18th century proposed in this collection have been written over the past 15 years. Their common goal is to convey at least in a fragmentary form a picture of the intellectual climate in the Russian noble society of the Catherine era. In the field of view of the collection are not only Derzhavin and Karamzin as the leading authors of that time, but, in certain contexts, also small poets. Topics such as the cult of kings, war and peace, politics and religion, the state and private life, service and leisure, the opposite of "true" and "false" glory and, finally, death and life in the next world are interpreted. It is shown that the significance of these topics was determined not only by the Peter's tradition and official Christianity, but also by the European Enlightenment.