Vol 6, No 4 (2019)
Articles
Dostoevsky and His Characters in Theatre Chairs, at Concerts and in Amusement Facilities, 1837–1849 (from the Materials for the Encyclopedic Reference Book “Petersburg of Dostoevsky”)
Abstract
The basis of the publication is a thematic selection of the materials of the encyclopedic reference book “Dostoevsky Petersburg” being prepared for publishing. The purpose of the publication is to test the principles of the material presentation in the intended edition. All the places of the Northern capital, where Dostoevsky went to attend performances, concerts, or the amusement places, are described in a systematic manner. The published materials are chronologically limited by the first period of Dostoevsky’s life in St. Petersburg: years 1837 to 1849, when the writer’s attention to the theatrical and musical life of the capital was especially intense. All the information is provided by documentary, memoir, epistolary and other sources (including newspaper and magazine reviews). Each miniature article is devoted to a particular place of St. Petersburg and is accompanied by a set of the used sources. Being a thematic excerpt from the encyclopedic reference book, the publication materials are arranged in an alphabetic order. Along with the historical addresses presented in accordance with the documents of the 1840s, the current addresses of the given places are always provided. The publication of materials of the encyclopedic reference book is preceded by an introductory article confronting readers with the historical background of the problem.
5-56
The Problems of the Chronological Attribution of “the Third” Notebook of F. M. Dostoevsky
Abstract
The article makes an attempt of the chronological attribution of F. M. Dostoevsky’s “third” notebook kept in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library (Fund 93.I.2.8). The book, like the two previous ones, was filled in by the writer in different directions, sometimes chaotically: the dates referring to the years 1864 and 1865 appear both at the beginning and in the middle or at the end of the book. In one place there emerges the date “the second half of November 1863”. Often, only the date and the month are indicated that required additional clarification as to a year. The nature of the filling of the book, the dates found in it, as well as the content of the notes make it possible to assume that Dostoevsky begins keeping it simultaneously with his “second” notebook housed in the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library (Fund 93.I.2.7), in July 1864. Then, in August, he makes the last notes in the “second” notebook and focuses himself on the “third” one (which is most likely to have an auxiliary character), as well as (with regard to literary and journalistic work) on two workbooks referring to the years 1864–1865 (housed in The Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts. F. 212.1.3 and 212.1.4). Thus, we deduce that Dostoevsky was keeping his “third” notebook, from July 1864 up to and including May 1865. A lot of questions touched upon in the article are of a polemical character and need further studying.
57-83
Graphical Peculiarities of Dostoevsky’s Manuscripts (Based on the Materials of the Notebooks and Workbooks of the Years 1862–1865)
Abstract
This publication describes the preliminary results of graphical analysis carried out basing on the materials of Dostoevsky's workbooks of the first half of the 1860s, namely his "second" and "third" notebooks as well as one of his workbooks composed along with the previous ones (The Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library. Funds 93.I.2.7, 93.I.2.8; The Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts. Fund 212.1.3). Via concrete examples it is shown how a new database on Dostoevsky's writing can become an effective tool of the analysis of "difficult readings" in the writer’s autographs. The article considers the possibility of using two methods of representing the texts of Dostoevsky's notebooks in the graphic analysis of a particular group of records in these notebooks related to calculations and publishing activities of Dostoevsky. A comprehensive study of this little-studied group of records belonging to several notebooks kept at the same time allowed revealing some common features. The intermediate results of graphical analysis of the figures appeared in Dostoevsky's manuscripts are presented in the form of a table, complementing a similar hand lettering table compiled last year.
84-138
Fedor Dostoevsky in the Correspondence of Elena Stackenschneider with Jakov Polonsky
Abstract
Elena Andreevna Stackenschneider (1836–1897), memoirist and hostess of the literary and art salon in St. Petersburg in the 1870s — early 1880s, was keeping records on M. Dostoevsky and his creative work for 25 years (1860–1885). She used to remark his public speeches, describe his appearance and habits, give a critical assessment of his writings, and tried to identify the features of his artistic world, never doubting the magnitude of his talent. The unpublished correspondence of Yakov Polonsky with Elena Stakenschneider, as well as previously unpublished fragments of the diaries of the latter, made it possible to clarify the facts of the biography of Fеdor Dostoevsky and to enrich the collection of vital criticisms and evidence of his activities and creative work. Thanks to her meticulous and longstanding work in accumulating materials and keeping memoirs, her deep analysis of Dostoevsky’s genius whose underlying message consists in Christian axiology, it is possible to consider this woman one of the first female researchers of the writer’s creation. The example of E. A. Stackenschneider evidentiates how despite the negative criticism grew up the number of sympathizers of her ideas who aspired to keep the image and heritage of their great compatriot for the descendants.
139-158
Memoirist L. F. Panteleev — Publisher and Creditor of F. M. Dostoevsky
Abstract
The topic of financial relations of F. M. Dostoevsky with his numerous creditors has not been yet exposed to a comprehensive study. Neither the exact total amount of the writer’s debt, nor the amount of his debts to particular individuals or to what extent those were repaid by him, are known for certain. A detailed study of Dostoevsky’s heavy debt obligations in the mid-1860s as well as their weigh on the writer for almost all his life, may become promising for future researchers. This article presents the analysis of the letters of one of the writer’s creditors, a publisher and public figure L. F. Panteleev, as well as of his father-in-law V. N. Latkin, industrialist and researcher of the Russian North. These documents, dating back to the mid-1860s, make it possible to clarify some data on the numerous debt obligations of Dostoevsky at that time, to consider the relationship (both personal and financial) between two contemporaries — L. F. Panteleev and F. M. Dostoevsky, and also to make more clear the involvement of Latkin. Despite the fact that the communication between the publisher and the writer in the mid-1860s was not durable, the relationship between them can be described as completely trusting and friendly. The facts obtained from their letters to the writer, correlated with information from Dostoevsky’s extant account books and notebooks of that time as well as Panteleev’s memoirs, supplement the general picture of the financial situation of the writer in the mid-1860s.
159-172
Dostoevsky in Boston: 17th Symposium of the International Dostoevsky Society
Abstract
On July 14–19, 2019 at Boston University (USA) took place the 17th Symposium of the International Society of F. M. Dostoevsky (International Dostoevsky Society, IDS). For five days Boston became the world capital of the Great Russian and international writer although he had never been to America. The residents of the central city of New England began to show their interest in Russian culture at the end of the 19th century. One of the evidence of this is the cited in this article newspaper item “On Russian fashion in the United States” from the collection of Dostoevsky’s widow Anna Grigoryevna, kept in the collection of the State Literary Museum. Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), the most famous representative of American romanticism, was born in Boston. Dostoevsky considered him a highly gifted writer and published his works in the journal “Vremya”. In the creative heritage of Dostoevsky there are practically no cultural, historical realities associated with America. The toponym Boston is also missing, but the word itself is used twice. By chance, Dostoevsky inserted the name of the hard labor game derived from the name of Boston city, the American “cradle of freedom”, into his Siberian Notebook that he began keeping during his Omsk penal servitude. Earlier, while translating the novel “Eugene Grande”, Dostoevsky following Balzac had already used the word “Boston” to describe the pastime of the network of old Grande. This publication presents a brief outline of the history of the origin and development of the International Dostoevsky Society, highlights a number of reports, key events, and the main results of the 17th Symposium, bringing together researchers of Dostoevsky’s works from around the world.
173-189
Following F. M. Dostoevsky’s Ways: the Poles in Siberia
Abstract
. The review of the Travels from Dostoevsky’s Siberia. Encounters with Polish Literary Exiles by Elizabeth A. Blake (Boston 2019) is devoted to the description and analysis of the modern study of the destinies of the members of the Petrashevsky circle and the Polish exiles in Siberia. It is shown that extensive factual material has been introduced into scientific circulation and that Siberian life of F. M. Dostoevsky and the members of the Petrashevsky circle performs the function of historical and cultural background, on which the history of the Poles’ stay in Siberia is drawn.
190-197