Today Vladimir Ivanovich Dal (1801–1872) is deservedly known as the compiler of the 'Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language'. It is remarkable, however, that by his main profession he was a doctor, and he turned to the study of the Russian language and Russian culture at the call of his soul, like many educated compatriots of the first half of the 19th century.
In the present collection, Vladimir Dal is presented as a researcher and popularizer of folk culture. The essays that subsequently made up the book 'On the Beliefs, Superstitions and Prejudices of the Russian People' were written on the basis of field materials accumulated during his work on the future 'Dictionary'. It is for this reason that Dal's work really resonated with — albeit slightly smoothed for reasons of 'propriety' — 'the voice of the people'. Dal's ethnographic essays retain this value to this day.
Also included in the collection are thematically similar articles from various years: articles on homeopathy, the fashionable medical theory of that time, on 'medicinal' prejudices, as well as on proverbs, incantations and byliny. The text is printed according to the 1880 edition and the early publications of the articles.
