Annotation: The study by Dr. Yuri Zaretsky, a professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, delves into the publishing project initiated by Peter the Great during the time of the Great Embassy and the individuals who implemented this project. The principal figure was the little-known Ilya Kopievsky, originally from the Belarusian lands, who translated, compiled, and published the first secular educational materials in Russian at the printing house of the Amsterdam merchant Jan Tessing. The author utilizes new materials to reconstruct the dramatic events of Kopievsky's life, his complex relationships with others, and the challenges he faced in his translation and publishing efforts. The books printed in Amsterdam found numerous readers in Russia—their names, occupations, and interests are reconstructed by Zaretsky based on surviving ownership inscriptions. This meticulous study of Kopievsky’s life and work allows the author to shed new light on one of the crucial episodes in the history of Peter the Great's reforms.