An important aspect of the modernisation of Russia in the 18th century was the creation of academic institutions that relied on European traditions of research and education. Translation was the main mechanism of the 'transfer of knowledge', as well as a scientific method. Translation, however, was not restricted to the mere translation of academic texts into Russian: it also played a crucial role in the development of the sciences themselves in Russia and facilitated the exchange of scientific and scholarly knowledge with Western Europe (the 'circulation of knowledge'). History was one of the disciplines where translation was particularly crucial. This article studies in detail the dynamics of translation within 18th-century Russian historiography. Based on statistical data derived from the Slovar' russkikh pisatelei XVIII veka and the Katalog lichnykh arkhivnykh fondov otechestvennykh istorikov XVIII v., the article draws some interesting conclusions with regard to the constantly changing relationship between translators and historians (who were not infrequently the same people). Most of the article (and its sequel in the next issue of QR) deals with the role of translation in the emergence of Russian history as an academic discipline. It developed from a tool used for political purposes under Peter I into a method for the study of historical sources. This development led to the establishment of historiography as a discipline that relied both on verifiable sources and followed the rhetorical logic of narrative texts. At the beginning of the 19th century, translation as a tool and a historical methodology lost its significance. What did remain was the profound tradition of reference to international knowledge. Later on, Russian historiography was considerably enriched by translations of historical works. This argument makes up the first part of the article.
