Oleksandr Afanasyev-Chuzhbynsky is a well-known writer, publicist, ethnographer, and friend of Taras Shevchenko's youth. He traveled a lot in Ukraine, studying folk life, compiled a dictionary of the Ukrainian language. In 1856-1860 he made an expedition along the banks of the Dnieper and Dniester, which resulted in a book in two volumes - a thorough study of local lore and ethnography and at the same time a fascinating work of art in the genre of travel notes with many lively dialogues. Essays on the Dniester ", describes the life of coastal towns and villages within the then Russian possessions: from the village of Anuti above Khotyn to the Dniester estuary
(now the territory of Ukraine and Moldova). We will learn about nature, antiquities and, first of all, about the occupations and life of the inhabitants of both banks of the Dniester: Ukrainian and Moldavian peasant farmers, Jewish shopkeepers and smugglers, as well as German, Bulgarian and Swiss colonists.
