▁( wh ose ▁work ▁he ▁especially ▁adm ired ), ▁among ▁many ▁others . ▁Some ▁of ▁them ▁were ▁collected ▁in ▁P es ni ▁i ▁rom ans y ▁( S ongs ▁and ▁Roman ces , ▁ 1 8 3 2 ). ▁ ▁After ▁ret iring ▁from ▁the ▁Foreign ▁Ministry ▁in ▁ 1 8 3 4 ▁Mel gun ov ▁concentr ated ▁on ▁popular izing ▁Russian ▁literature ▁abroad . ▁The ▁book ▁Liter ar ische ▁Bilder ▁aus ▁Russ land ▁by ▁H . ▁Kon igs ▁was ▁written ▁on ▁the ▁basis ▁of ▁its ▁author ▁tal ks ▁with ▁Mel gun ov , ▁parts ▁of ▁it ▁even ▁dict ated ▁by ▁the ▁latter . ▁This ▁first ▁attempt ▁to ▁present ▁the ▁coh er ent ▁history ▁of ▁Russian ▁literature ▁to ▁the ▁Western ▁reader ▁was ▁met ▁with ▁great ▁app rais al ▁in ▁Germany ▁and ▁was ▁soon ▁translated ▁into ▁several ▁European ▁languages . ▁The ▁reaction ▁in ▁Russia ▁was ▁less ▁ben ign . ▁" Do ▁not ▁take ▁Ko enig ▁at ▁his ▁word , ▁this ▁Mus cov ite ▁[ M el gun ov ] ▁is ▁of ▁too ▁high ▁an ▁opinion ▁of ▁his ▁own ▁club ," ▁Py otr ▁P let ny ov ▁war ned ▁Y akov ▁G rot ▁in ▁his ▁ 1 8 4 1 ▁letter . ▁Str ong ly ▁negative ▁reviews ▁arrived ▁from ▁Se vern aya ▁P t ch ela ▁and ▁Syn ▁O tech est va , ▁the ▁review ers ▁( F ad de y ▁Bulgar in ▁and ▁K sen of ont ▁P ole voy , ▁respectively ) ▁express ing ▁their ▁out rage ▁with ▁Mel gun ov ' s