The Dostoevsky Archive: Firsthand accounts of the novelist from contemporaries' memoirs and rare periodicals, most translated into English for the first time, with a detailed lifetime chronology and annotated bibliography

398 Pages·1997·66.42 MB·English

by  Peter Sekerin (ed.)

THE DOSTOEVSKY ARCHIVE
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. An insignificant appear
ance; the hair and the beard are reddish, the face skinny, thin,
with big bones; a mole on the right cheek. The eyes have a
grim expression; sometimes you see in his eyes suspiciousness
and distrust, but mostly thoughtfU/ness and sadness ...
(E.N. 0POCHININ,
"Talking to Dostoevsky,
or My Notes in St. Petersburg,
1879-1881")
S8L
B
THE SEK.
DOSTOEVSKY
ARCHIVE
of
Firsthand Accounts the Novelist
from Contemporaries' Memoirs
and Rare Periodicals
Most Translated into English for the First Time
with a Detailed Lifetime Chronology
and Annotated Bibliography
PETER SEKIRIN
by
with an introduction by IGOR VOLGIN
Scanned by
The Dostoevsky Circle
2015
[email protected]
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
Frontispiece: An 1880s portrait by N. Gusev, from a famous
1880 photograph by Panov
by
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data are available
Library of Congress Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
The Dostoevsky archive : firsthand accounts of the novelist from
contemporaries' memoirs and rare periodicals, most translated
into English for the first time, with a detailed lifetime
chronology and annotated bibliography I [compiled] by Peter
Sekirin ; with an introduction by Igor Volgin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7864-0264-4 (library binding :
§
50# and 70# alkaline papers)
1. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881-Biography.
2. Dostoyevsky, Fyodor, 1821-1881-Chronology. 3. Authors,
Russian-19th century-Biography. I. Sekirin, Peter.
PG3328.D6425 1997
891. 73'3-dc21
[B] 96-29656
CIP
©1997 Peter Sekirin. All rights reserved
No part oft his book, specifically including the table ofc ontents and the
index, may be reproduced or transmitted in any farm or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writingfrom the publisher.
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
John 12:24
Dostoevsky selected this verse as
the epigraph far The Brothers
Karamazov. It also appears on his
tombstone in St. Petersburg.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my deepest and most sincere gratitude to the fol-
lowing people: ·
Professor Kenneth Lantz, Professor Ralph Bogert, Professor Christo
pher Barnes, Professor Ralph Lindheim, Professor Sergei Ponomareff and
other professors and students from the Slavic Department at the University
of Toronto who read portions of my manuscript and advised me at different
stages of my work.
Professor Mario Valdez for his advice regarding the structure of the
manuscript and the selection of a proper publisher, and for his encouraging
remarks. ·
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences of the University of Toronto, headed
by Dean Don Cohen, for supporting me with several grants and fellowships
from 1992 to 1995.
Professor R. Johnson from the Center for Russian and East-European
Studies at the University of Toronto, for assisting me with travel grants to
the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., in 1993.
Carol Peaker, who made a major contribution to the editing of the man
uscript at the final stage. Our cooperation was very fruitful. It was due to her
enthusiasm and dedication that the project was completed in time.
Robert Reid, Peter Gorelik, Lillias Allward and Brett Smith, who helped
with editing and proofreading the manuscript and arranging copyright per
m1ss10ns.
Jim Temerty and Louise Temerty for assistance in legal matters and
financial support of my research.
My colleagues in Russia, in particular Mrs. V. Akopjanova, director of
the Dostoevsky Museum in Moscow, and the staff of the museum. Also the
Archives of Literature and the Museum of Literature, both of which pro
vided photographs.
The staff of the Manuscript Department of the Lenin State Library in
Moscow, particularly including librarian Liudmila Riazanova, and the librar
ians from the Interlibrary Loan Department of the John Robarts Library in
Toronto: Candy Cheung, Jane Lynch and Shamin Allani.
Oxford University Press, Alfred A. Knopf, and Farrar Straus & Giroux
for their permissions to quote Dostoevsky translations.
My parents for their wisdom, patience and support.
vu
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vu
PREFACE 1
INTRODUCTION: HISTORY OF THE DOSTOEVSKY ARCHIVE IN RUSSIA
(by Igor Volgin) 7
PART I. DOSTOEVSKY'S BIOGRAPHY IN DOCUMENTS
AND MEMOIRS OF HIS CONTEMPORARIES 43
1. Childhood in Moscow, 1821-1837. The Raped Girl.
Shelter for the Poor. · 45
OREST MILLER: About F.M. Dostoevsky 48
ANDREI DOSTOEVSKY: The Dostoevsky Brothers in Their Childhood 54
2. Studies in the St. Petersburg Military Engineering
Academy. Father's Death. First Literary Success. 57
ANDREI DOSTOEVSKY: The Father's Death. Fyodor Dostoevsky
in the Forties 60
DMITRY GRIGOROVICH: Literary Memoirs. Poor People, Dostoevsky's
First Novel 63
KONSTANTIN TRUTOVSKY: Memoirs About Dostoevsky 69
STEPAN IANOVSKY: First Accounts of a Doctor About Dostoevsky's
Epilepsy 72
PAVEL ANNENKOV: Dostoevsky's First Literary Success 73
COUNT VLADIMIR SOLLOGUB: First Meeting with Dostoevsky 74
3. Socialist Circle, Arrest and Investigation, 1846-1849. 76
AVDOTIA PANAEVA: The Beginning of Dostoevsky's Literary Career 80
ALEKSANDR MILIUKOV: About Dostoevsky's Involvement in the
Petrashevsky Secret Socialist Circle 83
OREST MILLER: The Catastrophe 87
ANDREI DOSTOEVSKY: My Arrest and the Investigation of the
Petrashevsky Case 96
PYOTR SEMENOV: About Dostoevsky's Youth: "He Was Never
a Revolutionary" 100
ix
x Contents
I. VurcH: The Near Execution of the Members of the Petrashevsky
Circle: A Witness's Report 104
4. Prison, Army Service and Exile. Ten Years in Siberia:
1849-1859. 107
PYOTR MARTIANOV: Dostoevsky's Four Years in the Omsk Prison 112
E.M. FEOKTISTOV: Dostoevsky's Love Story in the Army 115
PYOTR SEMENOV: My Meeting with Dostoevsky in Siberia 116
ANDREI DOSTOEVSKY: Dostoevsky's First Letters from Siberia 117
ALEKSANDR VRANGEL: About Dostoevsky's Army Service
and Exile in Siberia 119
A. PINCHUK: New Version of Dostoevsky's Arrest: A Witness Report 132
ALEKSEI PLESHCHEEV: "Fyodor Dostoevsky ... Is to Be Executed by a
Firing Squad": A Myth or a Fact? 133
M.D. FRANTSEVA: Secret Meeting with Dostoevsky on His Way
to a Siberian Prison 134
BOLESLAV MARKEVICH: Dostoevsky's Arrival at Prison 135
V. ABELDIAEV: The Writer Talking to the Students About Christian
Values 135
A.K. RoZHNOVSKY: "The Dead Man": In Prison, They Called Him
by a Nickname 136
VLADIMIR IAKOVLEV: Dostoevsky in the Army:
"He Did Not Talk Much" 137
EVGENY FEOKTISTOV: Several New Letters by Dostoevsky 137
A. IVANOV: Life in the Army Was as Bad as in Prison 138
A. SKANDIN: Private Dostoevsky During His Routine Service
in the Army 139
B. GERASIMOV: New Facts About Dostoevsky in Semipalatinsk 139
BOLESLAV MARKEVICH: After Siberian Exile: "We Saw Nervous
Convulsions on His Face ... " 140
5. Literary Journals and "Innocent,, Novels: The Period
of Transition. 142
P. KOVALEVSKY: Why Was Dostoevsky Not Published in the
Prestigious Journals? 146
PYOTR BOBORYKIN: My Memories About Journals
Edited by Dostoevsky 148
NIKOLAI STRAKHOV: Memories of Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky
as a Journalist 148
Contents xi
ANDREI DOSTOEVSKY: A Visit to Fyodor Dostoevsky
in St. Petersburg 155
MARIA lVANOVA: Remembrances About Dostoevsky in the
Summer of 1866 157
NIKOLAI FoN-FOKHT: Dostoevsky's Writing Crime and Punishment 160
NIKOLAI CHERNYSHEVSKY: Dostoevsky Wanted to Stop the
Revolutionary Terror in Russia 161
PYOTR VEINBERG: Dostoevsky During the Day of the
First Assassination Attempt on the Tsar 162
PYOTR VEINBERG: Literary Spectacles with Dostoevsky as an Actor 163
EVGENY OPOCHININ: How Dostoevsky Took Plots of His Novels
~m&dLlfu 1~
6. Three Love Stories in the 1860s, in Russia and Abroad. 167
POLINA SUSLOVA: The Years of My Intimacy with Dostoevsky 170
SOFIA KOVALEVSKAYA: How Dostoevsky Proposed to Anna Korvin-
Krukovskaya 175
ANNA DOSTOEVSKAYA: Memoirs 177
Between pages 178and179are16 pages ofp lates
containing 29 photographs and illustrations.
7. Socialists Become "the Demons." The Citizen, A Writer's
Diary, The Idiot, and The Brothers Karamazov.
Friendship with the Royal Family. 193
VLADIMIR MESHCHERSKY: He Was the Most Loyal, Dedicated
and Conservative Monarchist 202
VSEVOLOD SOLOVIEV: Memoirs of a Close Personal Friend 205
ALEKSANDR BRIULLOV: Dostoevsky Speaks About Italian Art 211
ELENA STAKENSHNEIDER: Dostoevsky at Literary Parties 212
MIKHAIL ALEXANDROV: Memoirs of a Publishing House Worker 214
LIUDMILA SIMONOVA: Dostoevsky Talking to Activists of
the Women's Movement in Russia 216
ANATOLY KoNI: Most Novels Were Based on Criminal Cases
Taken from Real Life 217
V. PRIBYTKOVA: Dostoevsky and Spiritualism 218
ANATOLY ALExANDROV: Fyodor Mikhailovich in Staraya Russa 220
OREST MILLER: The House and the Study of Dostoevsky 223