Sarah J. Young

Lecturer in Russian at SSEES

Russkii vestnik 1863

Highlights of this year include Tolstoy’s The Cossacks and Polukushka. I have to admit I’ve never come across the latter before — I’m slightly on the fence about Tolstoy, so I never really get beyond the obvious things, although there are quite enough of those. There’s also part of a drama by Maikov called Three Deaths and a novel by Pisemsky, as well as the expected appearance of Fet. History articles are very much to the fore, with contributions from the major historians of the day: Sergei Solov’ev on European history, Mikhail Pogodin on Peter the Great and General Ermolov, and Dmitry Ilovaisky on the Novgorod guberniia, while Alexander Druzhinin writes about Carlyle’s book on Frederick the Great. One of his other contributions, An English Observer in North America again points to a wider interest in English culture, also apparent in Dmitry Grigorovich’s Pictures by English artists at exhibitions in 1862 in London, and an article called Village life in England, or Memoirs of a French expatriate. The Polish question comes up more than once, unsurprisingly, and there are more articles on the schism, with Melnikov on old believer hierarchs and more of Subbotin’s work on contemporary schismatics. Women again make an appearance, with contributions from Kamskaia, Novinskaia and Tolychova — is it my imagination that they are better represented earlier in the decade than later?

vol 43, 1-2 (1863)

January 1863

Graf L. N. Tolstoi, Kazaki. Kavkazskaia povest’ 1852 goda
V. P. Bezobrazov, O nekotorykh iavleniiakh denezhnogo obrashcheniia v Rossii
A. A. Fet, Romans. Stikhotvorenie
N. A. Ramazanov, Petr Andreevich Stavasser
A. V. Druzhinin, Angliiskii nabliudatel’ v Severnoi Amerike. I-III
M. N. Kapustin, Teoriia natsional’nosti v mezhdunarodnom prave
K. Zolotilov, Sibirskaia taiga. I-II
S. A. Rachinskii, Tsvety i nasekomye. I-III
Iz zapisok generala-ad’iutanta Murav’eva o voine 1855 goda v Maloi Azii
T. Tolychova, Kholostaia zhizn’. Rasskaz
A. A. Fet, Iz derevni. I-VI
Otzyvy i zametki. Pol’skii vospros

February 1863

P. Pobedonostsev, Novye puteshestviia po Vostoku. Domashniaia zhizn’ v Palestine. Tishendorf i sinaiskaia bibliia
A. N. Rober, Vospitanie i sluzhba
A. A. Fet, Dva stikhotvoreniia
Graf L. N. Tolstoi, Polukushka
S. M. Solov’ev, Evropa v kontse XVIII veka. Stat’ia piataia
A. N. Maikov, Smert’ Liutsiia. Vtoraia chast’ liricheskoi dramy ‘Tri smerti’
Sosnogorov, Da ili net. Povest. I-VI
K. Zolotilov, Sibirskaia taiga. III-IV
D. V. Grigorovich, Kartiny angliiskikh zhivopistsev na vystavkakh 1862 g. v Londone
A. V. Druzhinin, Angliiskii nabliudatel’ v Severnoi Amerike. IV-VI
Amurskii khlebopashets, Zametki o volnonaemom trude na Amure
Otvyvy i zametki. Pol’skii vospros

vol 44, 3-4 (1863)

March 1863

S. M. Solov’ev, Evropa v kontse XVIII veka. Stat’ia shestaia
D. V. Grigorovich, Kartiny angliiskikh zhivopistsev na vystavkakh 1862 g. v Londone. Okonchanie
A. F. Pisemskii, Vzbalamuchennoe more. Roman v shesti chastiakh. Chast’ 1
A. V. Druzhinin, Rasskaz noveishikh turistov o Iug Soedinennykh Shtatov
M. A. Khirtrovo, Poezdka na prilepskuiu iarmaku i v manastyri Sv. Arkhangel i Treskovets. Iz putevykh zapisok
Sosnogorov, Da ili net. Povest. Okonchanie
A. A. Fet, Iz derevni. VII-XIV
K. Al’binskii, S natury. Stikhotvorenie
A. K. Zabelin, K voprosu ob uluchshenii tiurem
M. I. Zarudnyi, Tomas Erskin
Pol’sha po Quarterly Review
Otvyvy i zametki. Chto nam delat’ s Pol’shei?

April 1863

A. F. Pisemskii, Vzbalamuchennoe more. Roman v shesti chastiakh. Chast’ 2
I. Kenig, Savin’i i ego otnoshenie k sovremennoi iurisprudentsii
P. I. Mel’nikov, Staroobriadskie arkhierei
Sel’skaia zhizn’ v Anglii ili vospominaniia frantsuzskogo izgnannika (La vie rurale en Angleterre). I-XI
N. P. Vorontsov-Bel’iaminov, Obshchinnnye nalogi i mirskie sbory
A. Tsurikov, Uniia. Stikhotvorenie
G. M. Losev, Ocherki. I. Kollektsiia starichkov i starushek
A. A. Fet, Stikhotvorenie
S. N. Glinka, Otryvok i zapisok
F. A. Bredikhin, Otkloneniia otvesa v Moskovskoi gubernii
A. S. Ershov, O nekotorykh uchebnykh zavedeniiakh v Zapadnoi Evrope
K. Zolotilov, Sibirskaia taiga. Okonchanie
M. P. Semenov, Eshche o krest’ianskom dele (Otvet na stat’iu g. Rzhevskogo ‘Da ili net?’)

vol 45, 5-6 (1863)

May 1863

P. I. Mel’nikov, Staroobriadskie arkhierei. IV
A. F. Pisemskii, Vzbalamuchennoe more. Roman v shesti chastiakh. Chast’ 3
S. I. Barshev, Zadacha prisiazhnyikh v dele ugolovnogo suda
Tumaev, O dukhovnykh seminariiakh. Po povodu predpolagaemykh preobrazovanii
A. A. Fet. Melodiia. Stikhotvorenie
Sel’skaia zhizn’ v Anglii ili vospominaniia frantsuzskogo izgnannika (La vie rurale en Angleterre). Okonchanie
A. A. Ivanov, O malorusskom literaturnom iazyke i ob obuchenii o nem
Novinskaia, Chinovnik. Byl’
G. M. Losev, Ocherki. Gymnazii sorokovykh godov
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Narodnye dvizheniia v Podolii i na Volyni v 1768 i 1789 godakh
V. P. Bezobrazov, O nekotorykh iavleniiakh denezhnogo obrashcheniia v Rossii. II
Sovremennie dvizheniia v raskole
Po povodu stat’i ‘Rokovoi vopros’
Mnimoe i deistvitel’noe

June 1863

P. I. Mel’nikov, Staroobriadskie arkhierei. Okonchanie
S. M. Solov’ev, Zamitka po povodu stat’i g. Mel’nikova ‘Staroobriadskie arkhierei’
K. E. Kozlovskii, Poliaki na Zadneprovskoi Ukraine v XVIII veke. I-V
F. I. Ivanov, Razsvet. Stikhotvorenie
A. F. Pisemskii, Vzbalamuchennoe more. Roman v shesti chastiakh. Chast’ 4
V. P. Bezobrazov, O nekotorykh iavleniiakh denezhnogo obrashcheniia v Rossii. Okonchanie
Snosogorov, Magdalina. Povest’. I-V
G., Robkii chelovek. Ocherk
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Perepiska Ekateriny II c gr. N. I. Paninym
M. P. Pogodin, Pososhkov. Po vnov’ otkrytym dokumentam
L-i. P., O literaturnom iazyke u Slavian
B. Adamanatov, Sovremennie rytsari. I. Bezkorystnyi reformator
N. F. Sherbina, O narodnoi gramotnosti i rasprostranenii prosviashchenii v narode

vol 46, 7-8 (1863)

July 1863

A. F. Pisemskii, Vzbalamuchennoe more. Roman v shesti chastiakh. Chast’ 5
K. Al’binskii, V derevne. Chetyre stikhotvoreniia
N. F. Dubrovin, Serbskii vospros v tsarstvovanie imperatora Aleksandra I. I-IV
V. N. Leshkov, Chetyre upravleniia v Rossii po ukazam XVIII veka (1725-1726)
M. Koval’skii, Dotorzhnie zametki
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Frantsuzskaia politika v Pol’she 1768 i 1769 g.
S. Luginin, On okhranenii lesov prinadlezhashchikh chastnym litsam
M. Snosogorov, Magdalina. Povest’. Okonchanie
A. R., Iaitskoe kazachestvo
V. I. Ger’e, Pedagogicheskaia literatura
M. P. Pogodin, Petr Pervyi
Sovremennie dvizheniia v raskole

August 1863

A. V. Druzhinin, Pervye god tsarstvovaniia Fridrikha Velikogo (Frederick the Great by Carlyle, vols 5 & 6)
V. Avseenko, Malorossiiskoe shliakhetstvo v 1767 godu. Novye materialy dlia istorii XVIII stoletiia
N. F. Dubrovin, Serbskii vospros v tsarstvovanie imperatora Aleksandra I. Okonchanie
A. F. Pisemskii, Vzbalamuchennoe more. Roman v shesti chastiakh. Chast’ 6. Okonchanie
M. A. Tolstopiatov, Aerolity
M. P. Pogodin, Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov. Materialy dlia ego biografii
Bulkin, Spetsialist. Povest’. I-XI
S. I. Barshev, Spornyi iuridicheskii vopros
P. Bezvestnyi, Iz dnevnika mirovogo posrednika 1861-1862 goda
Ts., Rasskaz diadi Onisima
N. P. V-v, Obshchii kharakter pritiazanii pol’skoi partii v zapadnom krae
Dopolnenie k stat’e ‘Sovremennie dvizheniia v raskole’

vol 47, 7-8 (1863)

September 1863

V. S. Proshin, Zhanna Dark
M. P. Pogodin, Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov. Materialy dlia ego biografii. II (1812-i god)
V. G. Avseenko, Lui Blan
Graf E. N. Tolstoi, Neudavshiisia roman. I-X
Bulkin, Spetsialist. Povest’. Okonchanie
N. D. Dmitriev, Kivach
G. V. Episov, Samozvantsy-tsarevichi Aleksei i Petr Petrovichi
Vilenskii zhitel’, Vilenskie sobytiia
Kniaz’ P. A. Viazemskii, Zametki
V. N., Interesy russkoi narodnosti v zapadnom krae

October 1863

P. S. Ts., On uluchshenii byta dukhovenstva
K. Kustoviev, Poslednee auto-da-fe v Sevile
K. E. Kozlovskii, Poliaki na Zadneprovskoi Ukraine v XVIII veke. Okonchanie
Kamskaia, Moia sud’ba. Povest. I-V
M. P. Poludenskii, Russkoe posol’stvo pri dvore Ludovika XIV
M. P. Pogodin, Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov. Materialy dlia ego biografii. III (1813-1825)
Graf E. N. Tolstoi, Neudavshiisia roman. Okonchanie
P. S. Mukhanov, Ot Singapora do Avstralii
A. N. Maikov, Zapadnaia Rus’. Stikhotvorenie
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Katolichestvo v Rossii
N. D. Rychkov, O tsekhakh v Rossii i Zapadnoi Evrope

vol 48, 11-12 (1863)

November 1863

V. K. Rzhevskii, Fevral’skaia revoliutsiia vo Frantsii
D. A. Kapnist, Mestnoe samoupravlenie v Anglii
M. Kamskaia, Moia sud’ba. Okonchanie
A. S. Troianskii, Zametki iz puteshestviia po Dalmatsii i Chernogorii
A. A. Fet, Stikhotvorenie
M. P. Pogodin, Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov. Materialy dlia ego biografii. III
D. I. Ilovaiskii, Iz proshlogo. I. Staticheskie svedeniia. II. Lug Voronets
V. P. Bezobrazov, O nekotorykh iavleniiakh denezhnogo obrashcheniia v Rossii. III
Amurskii khlebopashets, Zhizn’ v Amurskoi stantse
N. S-n, Sovremennie dvizheniia v raskole

December 1863

D. I. Ilovaiskii, Novgorodskaia guberniia sto let tomu nazad. Iz biografii grafa Siversa
N. Volzhskii, Ob uluchshenii byta dukhovenstva
M. P. Pogodin, Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov. Materialy dlia ego biografii. Okonchanie
Kniaz’ P. A. Viazemskii, Fotografiia Venetsii. Stikhotvorenie
Novinskaia, Lishniaia. Povest’
N. Khristianovich, Frants Shubert
T. Tolychova, Dva brata. Povest’
V. P. Bezobrazov, O nekotorykh iavleniiakh denezhnogo obrashcheniia v Rossii. Okonchanie
M. Z., Parizh v Amerike
A. S. Troianskii, Zametki iz puteshestviia po Dalmatsii i Chernogorii
S., Cherkesy, Kazaki i Adekhe
G. G., Zametka po povodu stat’i ‘Poslednee auto-da-fe v Sevile’

No Comments by Sarah Young on August 29, 2010
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Four short links: old Russian photos

I’ve been interested in old photos of Russia since visiting a fabulous exhibition at the Manezh in St Petersburg in late 2004. I still have vivid memories of pictures of the elderly Tolstoy riding his horse with his beard streaming, and a fascinating set of photos of the first trams in Petersburg. My love of such things has been reawakened by my first choice, sent to me by John Levin, whose ability to find so many interesting sites never ceases to amaze me.

1. Russia in color, a century ago. An extraordinary collection of pictures of the Russian Empire taken between 1909 and 1912 by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii. As the preamble explains, the photographer used a special camera which took pictures with different coloured filters in quick succession, and although you can see a few places where the process hasn’t quite worked, for the most part the results are absolutely perfect and a real eye-opener.

2. Moskva, kotoroi net. Photos from around 1910 to the 1930s, with some particularly interesting images of the destruction of churches in the 1930s and evocative pictures of street life from before and after the revolution. Mostly in Russian, although at least one category has captions and explanations in English. Some of the photos are available for purchase from Retrofoto.

3. Nevsky Prospect. Some great pictures of old Nevsky, part of Berkeley’s Mapping Petersburg project. I don’t think either the Nevsky site or the wider project is particularly easy to navigate – they seem to have been designed with the appearance of the sites in mind, rather than their usability – but there’s some interesting stuff here.

4. New York Public Library Digital Gallery: Slavic and Baltic Collections. Some wonderful collections here, far too many to mention. From views of Petersburg, to portraits of Russian political exiles and convicts and pictures of events and personalities of the Russian Revolution, plus posters, drawings, etc., this is a very rich resource, and well worth a browse.

No Comments by Sarah Young on August 26, 2010
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Russkii vestnik 1864

The volumes for 1864 feature the usual round-up of poets: Viazemsky, Fet, Almazov, and Maikov, who has supplements in the first two issues. Women writers seem more prominent than usual, with short stories by L. A. Cherkasova, Novinskaia, and Ol’ga N. The first half of Vigel’s Memoirs appears, as do the middle sections of Subbotin’s long work on raskolniks. English culture is well represented, not only in the form of translations of Thackeray’s Dennis Duval and the first two books of Wilkie Collins’s Armadale in the main journal, and part 1 of Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend in the supplement from July onwards, but there are also two essays on Shakespeare in the April issue, N. Rou’s article on English university life (June to September), and an essay on Dickens and Thackeray in the July issue.

vol 49, 1-2 (1864)

Jan 1864

V. P. Kliushnikov, Marevo. Roman. Chast’ 1
D. I. Ilovaiskii, Tret’e maia 1791 goda
S. V. Grigorovich, Dva generala. Epizod iz romana. I-VII
A. A. Fet, Stikohtvorenie
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominanie. Chast’ 1, I-XII
N. S-n., Rasskaz Petra Velikogo o Patriarkhe Nikone
Zavodchik, Neskol’ko slov o vinokurenii v Malorossii
Khristiane v Turtsii. Stat’ia V. Dentona, sviashchennika angliiskoi tserkvi

Supplement

A. N. Maikov, Novye stikhotvoreniia (1858-1863). Otdel pervyi: Doma. Otdel vtoroi: poemy i raznye stikhotvoreniia

February 1864

S. V. Grigorovich, Dva generala. Epizod iz romana. Okonchanie
P. Kuz’min, On usloviiakh vladeniia zemliami v voiske donskom
F. N. Buslaev, Zametki iz istorii cheshskoi zhivopisi
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast 1, XIII-XV
V. P. Kliushnikov, Marevo. Roman. Chast’ 2
Khristiane v Turtsii. Stat’ia V. Dentona, sviashchennika angliiskoi tserkvi. Prodolzhenie
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Russkaia literatura
N. S-n, Khudozhestvennoe izdanie v raskol’nikch’em dukhe
N. S-n, Sovremennye dvizheniia v raskole. V

Supplment

A. N. Maikov, Novye stikhotvoreniia (1858-1863). Otdel tretii: Iz stranstvovanii. Otedel chetvertyi: Liutsii. Liricheskaia drama. Chast’ 1

vol 50, 3-4 (1864)

March 1864

D. I. Ivolaiskii, Posle razdela
N. S-n, Poezdka v belokrinitsskii monastyr’: kak my ezdili za murom v Beluiu Krinitsu. S predisloviem
Khristiane v Turtsii. Stat’ia V. Dentona, sviashchennika angliiskoi tserkvi. Okonchanie
A. A. Fet, Stikohtvorenie
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Okonchanie pervoi chasti
B. N. Almazov, Otshel’nik. Stikhotvorenie
P. Kuz’min, Ob usloviiakh vladeniia zemliami v voiske donskom
V. P. Kliushnikov, Marevo. Roman. Chast’ 3
I. P. Shatilov, O sel’sko-khoziaistvennom obrazovanii v Rossii
Gustav de Molinari, Vopros o rabochikh. Prilozhenie k predidushchei stat’e: ‘O manifeste rabochikh’ (Stat’ai g. Bodrilliarda)
M. P. Pogodin, Uchenie predpriiatiia v Peterburge
S. F. Luginin, Volostnye sudy
N. S-n, Sovremennye dvizheniia v raskole. VI

April 1864

S. V. Esevskii, Zhenshchina v srednie veka v zapadnoi Evrope
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast 2, I-VII
A. A. Fet, Iz derevni
V. Tekkerei, Denis Duval’. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. I-III
P. A. Viazemskii, Opravdanie. Stikhotvorenie
O., Neskol’ko glav iz zhizni grafini Inni. Povest’
N. S. Tikhonravov, Shekspir’
D. V. Min, Monolog korolia Richard II. Iz dramy Shekspira ‘Richard II’
L. V. Gechevich, Po povodu statei V. P. Bezobrazova ‘O denezhnom obrashchenii v Rossii’
S. I. Barshev, Iuridicheskaia literatura. Uchebnik ugovolnogo prava V. Spasovicha
Pol’skaia propaganda na Volyne

vol 51, 5-6 (1864)

May 1864

P. I. Melnikov, Istoricheskie ocherki popovshchiny
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Okonchanie vtoroi chasti
M. P. Pogodin, Aleksei Petrovich Ermolov. Materialy dlia ego biografii. Okonchanie
F. I. Buslaev, Iz Florentsii
V. Tekkerei, Denis Duval’. Roman. IV-VI
B. N. Almazov, Khudozhnik. Iz Oppiana. Stikhotvorenie
Seminarist, Neskol’ko slov o seminarskom obrazovanii
V. P. Kliushnikov, Marevo. Roman. Okonchanie
K. P., Istoricheskaia literatura
Pol’skaia propaganda na Volyne

June 1864

G. E. Shchurovskii, Zemletriasenie okolo Baikala
E. M. Feoktistov, Magnitskii. Materialy dlia istorii prosveshcheniia v Rossii
N. Rou, Universitetskaia zhizn’ v Anglii. Vospominaniia byvshego studenta. I-XIV
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 3, I-V
V. P. Bezobrazov, Iz putevykh zapisok
B. N. Almazov, Shchedryi bogach. Stikhotvorenie
G., Moi sosluzhivtsy. Ocherk
V. Tekkerei, Denis Duval’. Roman. Okonchanie
Kniaz’ V. P. Meshcherskii, Eshche o volostnykh sudakh
I. I. Lazhechnikov, Neskol’ko zametok i vospominanii po povodu stat’i ‘Materialy dlia biografii A. P. Ermolova’
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Vigel’ o pol’skom voprose
A. Gordon, K voprosu o Evreiakh

Vol 52, 7-8 (1864)

July 1864

E. M. Feoktistov, Magnitskii. Materialy dlia istorii prosveshcheniia v Rossii. III
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 3, VI-IX
D. N. Abashev, Agronomicheskoe uchenie Libikha
Ol’ga N., Dva Novosel’ia. Povest’
G. M. Veselovskii, Iz istorii chastnykh shkol v Voronezhe
N. Rou, Universitetskaia zhizn’ v Anglii. XV-XXVII
Leibnits i egipetskaia ekspeditsiia
Dikkens i Tekkerei
Bibliografiia
Ob’iasnenie

Supplement

Ch. Dikkens, Nash obshchii drug. Roman v chetyrekh chastiaskh. Perevod s angliiskogo. Chast’ 1, I-V

August 1864

S. V. Esevskii, Moskovskie masony vos’midesiatykh godov proshedshego stoletiia (1780-1789). Materialy dlia istorii russkogo obshchestva v XVIII veke. I
E. M. Feoktistov, Magnitskii. Materialy dlia istorii prosveshcheniia v Rossii. Okonchanie
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Konets tret’ei chasti
Novinskaia, Semeistvo Ikimskikh. Povest’
A. R., Iaitskoe kazachestvo. II. 1680-1774
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Katolichestvo v Rossii pri Ekateriny i posle nee
D. I. Ivolaiskii, Velikii Novgorod i Belorussiia,
Akademii starykh vremen vo Frantsii
B. N. Almazov, Staraia russkaia partiia. Stikhotvorenie
Niklas Rou, Universitetskaia zhizn’ v Anglii. XXVIII-XXXVII
N. S-n, Po povodu stat’i g. Mel’nikov ‘Ocherki popovshchiny’

Supplement

Ch. Dikkens, Nash obshchii drug. Roman v chetyrekh chastiaskh. Chast’ 1, VI-VIII

vol 53, 9-10 (1864)

September 1854

T., Vospominaniia kavkazskogo ofitsera. I-II
N. O., Gde zhe schast’e? Povest’ v pis’makh
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 4, I-V
Niklas Rou, Universitetskaia zhizn’ v Anglii. XXXVIII-XLVI (Okonchanie)
D. Konstantinovich, Zapiski voennogo. II. Kapitan Bodrov. III. Burdon. Dva rasskaza
Arkhiespiskop Antonii, O greko-unitskoi tserkvi v Zapadnom kraia. I-II
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Russkaia politika i russkaia partiia v Pol’she. I
Murchison o Russkom Geograficheskom Obshchestve
N. S-n, Neskol’ko slov po povodu stateiki g-zhi Kokhanovskoi v 38 No. ‘Dni’

Supplement

Ch. Dikkens, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ 1, VIII-XI

October 1864

T., Vospominaniia kavkazskogo ofitsera. III-V
N. N. Semenov, Deiatel’nost’ Iakova Ivanovicha Rostovtseva
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 4, VI-IX
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Russkaia politika i russkaia partiia v Pol’she. II (Okonchanie)
D. Konstantinovich, Zapiski voennogo. IV. M’se Belogorskii. V. Praporshchik Muchkin. Dva rasskaza
V. S. Nekliudov, Ob otnosheniiakh Rossii k Ottomanskoi Imperii
N., Doch’ uplravliaiushchego. Povest’
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga pervaia. Perevod s angliiskogo
N. A. Popov, Pol’iaki v Prussii

Supplement

Ch. Dikkens, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ 1, IX-XIV

vol 54, 11-12 (1864)

November 1864

T., Vospominaniia kavkazskogo ofitsera. VI-IX
N. N. Semenov, Deiatel’nost’ Iakova Ivanovicha Rostovtseva
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 4, X-XIV
Iz raskazov i zapisok V. A. Sapelkina. S predisloviiem N. S-na
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga vtoraia
V. K-v, Nemaia. Rasskaz
V., Nedelia besporiadkov v Mogilevskoi gubernii v 1863 godu
N. Kh. Bunge, Mysli grafa Kankrina o bumazhnikh den’gakh
Ob’iasnenie po povodu stat’i ‘Novyi raskol’nichii arkhierei, posviashchennyi dlia Moskvy v Belokrintse’

December 1868

T., Vospominaniia kavkazskogo ofitsera. Okonchanie
N. N. Semenov, Deiatel’nost’ Iakova Ivanovicha Rostovtseva
M. N. Galkin, Mesta zakliuchenii vo Frantsii. Tiur’mi grazhdanskie
L. Ia. Cherkasova, Skromnaia dolia. Povest’
N. Iu. Palimpsestov, Peremenilsia li klimat na iuge Rossii?
S. F. Luginin, Belgskie zemskie uchrezhdeniia
M. M. Vol’skii, O razlichnykh sistemakh obrabotki zemli
A. Zisserman, Osada Kazi-Mulloiu Burnoi i Derbenta v 1831 godu
T. Tolychova, Semeinie zapiski i vospominaniia
D. Konstantinovich, Zapiski voennogo. VI. Obshchii liubimets
A. T., Pol’skie magnaty XVII i XVIII stoletii

No Comments by Sarah Young on August 22, 2010
filed in Russian journals
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One year old today: where do I go from here?

Today is the first anniversary of my blog, and I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve done so far and what I’m planning to do in the coming months. I’ve made a couple of discoveries over the last year. I’ve realized that cats, the Crystal Palace, and Merthyr Tydfil all attract a more readers than Russian literature (that’s hardly a surprise, although on the basis that some of my growing readership must be interested in the latter, I’ll stick to my guns). And certain themes have turned out to be unexpectedly prominent — women first amongst them. Continuing that thread, I’ll be writing more about the role of the female characters in Crime and Punishment in the next few days.

The real revelation, though, is that my blog has helped me find a new direction in my research, which had been feeling a little aimless. Suddenly I’m starting three new projects, of varying sizes, all of which have in one way or another developed out of work on my blog, and which I’m finding interesting and enjoyable. The first is a small research project, inspired by my posts on Dostoevsky and Chernyshevsky’s discussions of the Crystal Palace, on famous Russians in London — not today’s billionaire football-club-owning types, who bore me senseless, but mainly the writers and radicals who lived in or visited London in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (but I’ll include Peter the Great as well). I’m currently having fun reading the correspondence of Bakunin, Stepniak-Kravchinsky and so on, and visiting some of the places associated with my subjects (though I will have to go to Bromley at some point…), and I’ll be presenting the project as a series of posts in the Autumn.

The second is my first real digital humanities project (aside from my blog). I’ll be working with John Levin on a pilot project funded by SSEES (to which many thanks) to develop and analyse digital visualizations of Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and I’m really excited about this. We’re aiming to have the pilot completed and on-line by mid-December, and I’ll be writing on my blog about the process and results around that time. We’re also currently discussing ways to develop this into a larger project.

Finally, there’s my work to catalogue the digitizations of nineteenth-century Russian journals on Google Books, of which regular readers will already have seen the first fruits — again, I apologise, because they’re not the most interesting posts, particularly if you don’t speak Russian, but hopefully the rest of this post will go some way to explaining why this is a worthwhile project.

Russian literary journals are an extraordinary resource that have the capacity to tell us a great deal about Russian cultural and intellectual life in the nineteenth century. Journals were popular in other countries too, but they acquired particular significance in Russia as the main, if not only, print forum for debate on literary, social and political topics. Not only did all the great works on nineteenth-century literature appear in these journals, but so did the most influential philosophical and literary-critical works, from Chaadaev’s First Philosophical Letter in Teleskop (The Telescope) to Herzen’s Dilettantism in Science and Letters on the Study of Nature in Otechestvennye zapiski (Fatherland Notes) and Sovremennik (The Contemporary) and Dobroliubov’s What is Oblomovism? (also in Otechestvennye zapiski). At a time when open discussion of politics was forbidden by the censorship (its rather haphazard and inefficient application notwithstanding), essays like these, alongside literary texts, historical works, and studies of politics and sociology (which generally focused on countries other than Russia) provided implicit or explicit commentaries on Russian life and have great value in documenting the era.

In other words, there’s a richness to this material that is hugely enticing, but the sheer amount of it puts it beyond the capacity of any individual to read — even if we just take Russkii vestnik during its heyday, when it was edited by Mikhail Katkov (1856-87), we’re talking about at least 150,000 pages. And there were somewhere between 100 and 150 journals with various emphases and representing different ideological positions published in Russia from the mid-18th century to the 1917 revolution. Some only appeared for a year or two, but some lasted for decades. This enormous volume of material is probably the reason why these journals have not been the subject of much scholarly attention, and why the work on them that does exist tends to deal more with the history of the journals, their editors and major contributors, than the actual contents. The major source in English, Deborah Martinsen, ed., Literary Journals in Imperial Russia (Cambridge University Press, 1997) contains essays largely of this type — it’s very useful background material, but there remains a great deal of potential for analysis.

The posts I’m publishing at the moment, sorting out the metadata (I thought Russkii vestnik was a mess, but Otechestvennye zapiski, which I’ve just started trawling through, is even worse) and compiling lists of contents for the journals on Google books and archive.org, represent the first steps towards interrogating that content. But there is another issue: gaining access to the volumes that do not currently seem to be available from these sources. The Tsarskoe selo online library has digitized volumes of Russkii vestnik and Otechestvennye zapiski, and the ones I’ve looked at were digitized by Google, but if they’re on Google books, I can’t find them. It ought to be good news that they’re available somewhere, but unfortunately, the downloading conditions for the Russian site are so restrictive as to make working with these volumes en masse totally impractical. I’m planning to make enquiries about this, and hopefully at some point I will have more or less complete sets to work with, but for the moment what’s already accessible is keeping me pretty busy.

1 Comment by Sarah Young on August 22, 2010
filed in Meta, Russian journals
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Russkii vestnik 1865

These volumes of Russkii vestnik feature a number of literary works, from chapters from War and Peace and poetry by Fet, Tiutchev and Viazemsky, to the continuation of Wilkie Collins’s Armadale and, in the supplement, Dickens’s Our Mutual Friend. There are historical articles on Alexander I after 1812, the Pugachevshchina, and Lomonosov and the Academy of Sciences, while the emphasis on the religious life and the schism apparent in other years is also in evidence here, in the form of sections of Subbotin’s long work on contemporary movements in the schism, and essays on the Boiarynia Mororozova and German sectarians in the Caucasus. Finally, mention should be made of Filipp Filippovich Vigel’s Memoirs, which appear over 1864 and 1865 — an important historical source on Russian life in the first half of the 19th century.

vol 55, 1-2 (1865)

January 1865

D. I. Ilovaiskii, Graf Iakov Sivers. Biograficheskii ocherk
L. N. Tolstoi, Tysiacha vosem’ sot piatyi god. I. V Peterburge, I-IXIII. V Moskve, XIV-XXVIII
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 5, I-IV
N. A. Popov, Poliaki v Prussii
V. K. Rzhevskii, Vospitanie naroda
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga vtoraia. Perevod s angliiskogo
M. N. Bogdanovich, Imperator Aleksandr I v Parizhe
A. A. Fet, Stikhotvorenie: I. S. Turgenevu
N. Subbotin, Sovremennye dvizheniia v raskole

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Roman v chetyrekh chastakh. Perevod s angliiskogo. Chast’ 1, XV-XVII, i chast’ 2, I [not included]

February 1865

S. M. Solov’ev, Venskii kongress
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 5, V-VIII
K. D. Kavelin, Ustroistvo i upravlenie nemetskikh universitetakh
N. P. Koliupanov, Zemskii kredit v Belgii
L. N. Tolstoi, Tysiacha vosem’ sot piatyi god. V Moskve XXIX-XXXII. V derevne XXXIII-XXXVIII
D. I. Ilovaiskii, Graf Iakov Sivers. Biograficheskii ocherk. III-V
T., Stikhotvoreniia. I-IV
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga vtoraia, IV-V
N. Subbotin, Sovremennye dvizheniia v raskole. VIII

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ 1, XV-XVII, i chast’ 2, II-VI [not included]

vol 56, 3-4 (1865)

March 1865

S. V. Eshenskii, Moskovskie masony vos’midesiatikh godov preshedshego stoletiia (1780-1789). Materialy dlia istorii russkogo obshchestva v XVIII veke. II
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 5, IX-XII
D. I. Ilovaiskii, Graf Iakov Sivers. Biograficheskii ocherk.VI-VIII
Ol’ga N., Dva svidaniia. Povest’
A. Fet. Stikhotvoreniia
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 3, II-IV
N. Subbotin, Sovremennye dvizheniia v raskole. VIII (Okonchanie)
N. A. Liubimov, Lomonosov i S-Peterburgskaia akademiia nauk

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, VI-XI [not included]

April 1865

D. N. Abashev, Zemledelie v Anglii
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Nachalo i kharakter Pugachevshchiny. I-II
K. D. Kavelin, Ustroistvo i upravlenie nemetskikh universitetakh. IV (Okonchanie)
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Konets piatoi chasti. XIII-XV
A. A. Fet. Stikhotvoreniia
Biderman, Proiskhozhdenie i razvitie predstavitel’nykh uchrezhdenii v Anglii i Frantsii
E. E. Driianskii, Anton Antonovich. Roman. Chast’ 1, I-V
V. P. Bezobrazov, Ocherki Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki. I-II
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 3, V-VII

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Konets vtoroi chasti, XII-XVI

vol 57, 5-6 (1865)

May 1865

Z., Neskol’ko zamechanii o finansakh Avstrii. I-XIV
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Nachalo i kharakter Pugachevshchiny. III-IV (Okonchanie)
V. P. Bezobrazov, Ocherki Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki. III
D. Konstantinovich, Zapiski voennogo. Rasskaz. I. Rakitovy. II. Zvantsev
M. Zarudnyi, Nekotorye cherty sovremennogo polozheniia Frantsii
S. K. Smirnov, Nemtsie sektanty za Kavkazom
N. A. Popov, Serbi v Avstrii. I-IV
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 3, VIII-IX
E. E. Driianskii, Anton Antonovich. Roman. Chast’ 1, VI-VIII
K. N. M., Gory
N. Subbotin, Sovremennye dvizheniia v raskole. IX

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, kniga tret’ia, I-IV [not included]

June 1865

N. P. Koliupanov, Sovremennoe artel’noe dvizhenie v Germanii
M. N. Petrov, Savonarola. Istoricheskii ocherk
A. M. Matushinskii, Torval’dsen i ego proizvedeniia. I-IV
I. Khodnev, Kavkazskie materialy dlie biografii A. P. Ermolova
E. E. Driianskii, Anton Antonovich. Roman. Chast’ 2, I-III
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 3, X-XII
P. A. Kropotkin, Poezdka iz Zabaikal’ia na Amur chrez Manchuriiu
D. I. Zavalishin, Negry v Soedinennykh Shtatakh
Predstavitel’naia sistema v Anglii. Istoricheskii ocherk. Stat’ia Gneista. I-VI
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 6, I-II
I. Belliustin, Eshche o dvizheniiakh v raskole

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, kniga tret’ia, IV-VII

vol 58, 7-8 (1865)

July 1865

E. M. Feoktistov, Pol’skie intrigi v pervoi chetverti nyshnego stoletii
N. P. Koliupanov, Sovremennoe artel’noe dvizhenie v Germanii. II
F. I. Tiutchev, Stikhotvorenie
A. M. Matushinskii, Torval’dsen i ego proizvedeniia. V-VIII
V. P. Bezobrazov, Ocherki Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki. Ot 1802 do 1812 goda
F. T., Ol’ga. Rasskaz minerashkista
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Arkhimandrit Mel’khisedek
I. Krasnov, Bezpomestnye i melkopomestnye chinovniki voiska donskogo
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 3, XIII, i kniga 4, I-II

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, kniga tret’ia, VII-X [not included]

August 1865

E. M. Feoktistov, Pol’she posle 1815 goda
F. I. Tiutchev, Stikhotvorenie
V. Poroshilov, Buria (rasskaz)
A. M. Matushinskii, Torval’dsen i ego proizvedeniia. IX-XII
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 6, III-VII
G. F. Sokolov, Rasskaz ochevidtsa o proisshestviiakh v novgorodskoi gubernii vo vremia pervoi kholery
D. Konstantinovich, Zapiski voennogo. Rasskaz. IX. Trudnye dni. X. Na nochlege
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 4, III-IV
Kn. P. Viazemskii, Stikhotvorenie
Predstavitel’naia sistema v Anglii. Istoricheskii ocherk. Stat’ia Gneista. VII
M. N. Galkin, Kratkaia zapiska ob istoricheskikh pravakh Rossii na Kokanskie goroda Turkestan i Tashkent
M. N. Longinov, Novye knigi

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, kniga tret’ia, X-XIV

vol 59, 9-10 (1865)

September 1865

N. S. Tikhonravov, Boiarynia Morozova. Epizod iz istorii russkogo raskola
D. N. Getse, Zametki o Kitae
A. M. Matushinskii, Torval’dsen i ego proizvedeniia. XIII-XVI
D. E. Min, Pervaia pesn’ chistilishcha Danta Aligieri. Stikhotvorenie
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 6, VIII-X
N. A. Mann, Pautina. Komediia v piatykh deistviiakh
Noveishie uspekhi estestvovedeniia. Rech’ professora Filipsa
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 4, V-VII
S. Vsevolod, Stikhotvorenie
Lord Pal’merston. Biograficheskii ocherk, no Times

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, kniga tret’ia, XIV-XVII [not included]

October 1865

V. N. Ger’e, Ocherk razvitiia istoricheskoi nauki. I-II
V. P. Bezobrazov, Shveitsariia
Zapiski grafa Karla Vasil’evicha Nessel’rode
N. Bugaiskii, Ot Astrakhani do Tiflisa. Putevye zametki
F. F. Vigel’, Vospominaniia. Chast’ 6, XI-XIV, chast’ 7, I-II
Vil’ki Kollins, Armadel’. Kniga 4, VIII-IX
I. I. Belliustin, Po povodu shestidesiatogo doklada britanskogo bibleiskogo obshchestva
N., S Kavkaza. Pis’mo pervoe
Ol’ga N. T–va, Vrag gorami kachaet. Povest’. Chast’ pervaia
Lev Mandel’shtam, O zheleznykh dorogakh v Rossii i ikh vliianii na gosudarstvennyi kredit

Supplement

Ch. Dikkensa, Nash obshchii drug. Chast’ vtoraia, kniga chetvertaia, I-IV [not included]

vol 60, 11-12 (1865)

[missing]

by Sarah Young on August 15, 2010
filed in Russian Literature, Russian journals
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Re-reading Crime and Punishment: mis-naming

My recent posts collating contents pages of Russian journals do not, I will admit, make for very exciting reading. They do have a purpose, though, and are going to be appearing for some time. But I do want to continue writing on other subjects, partly so as not to alienate all my readers, and partly for the sake of my own sanity.

So, a belated return to my notes on Crime and Punishment, and today I want to discuss a peculiar feature of the novel: the mis-naming of characters and suggestions of uncertainty about their names and origins. This happens, I think, six times:

  • Razumikhin tells a messenger his name is ‘Vrazumikhin’ (pt 2, ch 3)
  • Katerina Ivanovna twice questions her landlady’s claim to be called ‘Amalia Ivanovna’, and insists that her patronymic is actually ‘Ludvigovna’ (pt 2, ch 7, and pt 5, ch 2)
  • Razumikhin calls Sonia ‘Sofia Ivanovna’ (her true patronymic is ‘Semyonovna’) (pt 3, ch 4)
  • Luzhin calls Razumikhin ‘Rassudkin’ (pt 4, ch 2)
  • Luzhin calls Sonia ‘Sofia Ivanovna’ (pt 5, ch 3).

It’s easy to see a couple of patterns here: the involvement of Luzhin, Razumikhin and Sonia, and attribution of the patronymic ‘Ivanovna’. But  its overall significance is unclear, and as a verbal tick associated with one of the novel’s most positive characters, Razumikhin, and one of the most negative, Luzhin, it is even questionable whether it can have a single meaning. Even the basic idea that the characters involved are not what or who they appear to be seems doubtful, as Razumikhin and Sonia, at least, are two of the most open and transparent characters in the novel.

The mis-naming of Razumikhin appears to be the more straightforward case, as it is connected to his literary antecedents and the etymology of his name. The commentary in the Academy edition complete works of Dostoevsky rightly links Razumikhin to the figure of Rakhmetov in Chernyshevsky’s What is to be Done?, and states, ‘[t]he very surname Razumikhin [razum, denoting reason broadly conceived, and with a spiritual dimension - SJY] also emphasizes the membership of Raskol’nikov’s friend to the circle of democratic students of the 1860s and their characteristically high evaluation of reason, which was opposed to authority’ (Polnoe sobranie sochinenii v 30-i tomakh (Moscow and Leningrad: Nauka, 1972-90), VII, 372).

But although this explanation is given in relation to the ‘Vrazumikhin’ reference (VI, 93), the commentary says nothing about what Razumikhin is doing here (indeed, the commentaries do not deal with the question of mis-naming at all). Is it merely a question of distancing himself from the Chernyshevskian image he projected on his first appearance in the text, and suggesting an extra layer to his character? If so, it seems a bit superfluous; we soon realize that this ardent, excitable, heavy-drinking figure only superficially resembles his cardboard cut-out prototype, and hardly need this signal. The changes in meaning introduced by the addition of the ‘v’ — vrazumliat’, to make understand, and vraz, immediately — may suggest that he sees himself as representing a more active principle, but again I’m not convinced that’s all there is to it. One can in any case suggest that Razumikhin while gives himself a more complex definition via his name, Luzhin does the opposite; calling him ‘Rassudkin’ (from rassudok, denoting a narrower and more mechanical form of reason abstracted from spiritual principles) oversimplifies his character and indicates that Luzhin sees the world, and other people, in black-and-white terms.

This is already very far from being an adequate interpretation, but the fact that it is these two characters who also mis-name Sonia makes matters even more complicated. The attribution of the wrong patronymic to Sonia is in itself fairly comprehensible, as it relates to the question of parentage. This is made clear by Katerina Ivanovna’s hysterical denial that her German landlady can also be an ‘Ivanovna’; as Katerina becomes more and more obsessed by her own genteel origins, she cannot countenance Amalia having the same patronymic, as it would imply social (not to mention ethnic) equivalence.

Katerina’s father looms large over the funeral scene, to the extent that the deceased, Semyon Zakharych Marmeladov, is almost erased from the picture. The mis-naming of Sonia contributes to this; immediately after his death, Razumikhin’s and Luzhin’s mistakes question Marmeladov’s claim to fatherhood, undermine his identity, and deny his capacity to live on in the image of his child. Sonia, meanwhile, is doubly orphaned; her father may have abdicated his responsibilities for her whilst alive, but the name change denies her a father altogether. Moreover, as she is endowed with the same patronymic as her stepmother, the possibility of a mother-daughter relationship is also questioned, and Sonia, in her role as provider for the family, becomes Katerina’s sister. This proves to be the first part of her journey, and by the end of the novel, she becomes mother to the convicts: ‘Matushka [little mother], Sofia Semyonovna, you’re our mother’ (epilogue, ch. 2).

But again, this does not tell the whole story, particularly in relation to the roles of the men who call Sonia ‘Ivanovna’. There is a different emphasis in the two incidents, although in both cases the suggestion is that she is not who she appears to be. But if Razumikhin’s error implies that she is more than the prostitute daughter of a destitute drunk, Luzhin’s action (am I wrong in thinking that both his acts of mis-naming feel deliberate?) positions her as a dissembler, suggesting she is not the genuinely grieving daughter of a respectable family brought on hard times – how can she be if she isn’t really Marmeladov’s daughter? – which sets her up for his accusation of theft.

So in addition to broadening out the theme of family relationships, the incidents with Sonia also reveal Luzhin’s and Razumikhin’s characters, opposing world views and motives. But these seem to be very separate issues, while the interconnection of the three characters involved suggests otherwise. Names in Dostoevsky are always significant, so surely mis-naming has to be equally important.  Is there something else going on here, and if so, what? Answers on a postcard please.

No Comments by Sarah Young on August 12, 2010
filed in Dostoevsky
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Russkii vestnik 1866

It’s hard to get beyond the literary contributions to Russkii vestnik for 1866, as it features both the first of Dostoevsky’s major novels, Crime and Punishment, and parts of Tolstoy’s War and Peace. There are also poems by Fet and A. K. Tolstoy, and two works by Boborykin, The World of Success and In a Foreign Field. Translations include Wilkie Collins’s Armadale (he was obviously as popular in Russia at the time as he was in Britain — it seems odd that he is now known for only a couple of his novels, when he wrote around 30) and Mrs Henry (Ellen) Wood’s St Martin’s Eve in the supplement.

vol 61, 1-2 (1866)

January 1866

N. A. Popov, Varshavskoe gertsogstvo. I-II
A. A. Fet, Stikhotvorenie
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 1, I-VII
I. I. Lazhechnikov, Kak ia znal M. M. Magnitskogo
N. I. Subbotin, Sovremennie dvizheniia v raskole
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki. Ot 1775 do 1800 godov. I-III
V. P. Bezobrazov, Ocherki Nizhegorodskoi iarmarki
S. K. Smirnov, Odin iz pitomtsev Speranskogo
Vi’lki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga chetvertaia, XI-XIII. Perevod s angliiskogo
M. I. Bogdanovich, Detstvo i iunost’ Aleksandra I
V., Zapiska Potstso-di-Borgo o pol’skom voprose
Bibliograficheskie zametki
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

February 1866

Ia. K. Grot, Kharakteristika Derzhavina kak poeta
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 1, VII-XIII
N. A. Popov, Varshavskoe gertsogstvo. III-IV
S. A. Rachinskii, Moskovskoe flora
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki. Ot 1775 do 1800 godov. IV
Vi’lki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga chetvertaia, XIV
N. P. Semenov, Bolezn’ i konchina generala Rostovtsov
N. I. Subbotin, Liubopytnyi otvet na ‘Voprosy glagolemym staroobriadtsam’
L. N. Tolstoi, Tysiacha vosem’ sot piatyi god. Chast’ vtoraia. Voina. I-IX
A. S. Trachevskii, Russkaia literatura
T., Novaia kniga o frantsuzskoi revoliutsii
A. A. Fet, Stikhotvorenie
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

Vol 62, 3-4 (1866)

March 1866

V. Makushev, Dnevnik puteshestviia iz Dubrovnika v Chernogoriiu
D. I. Zavalishin, Delo o kolonii Ross
N. A. Popov, Varshavskoe gertsogstvo. Okonchanie
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki. Ot 1815 do 1830 goda
Kustodiev, Sviashchennik Merino
Babushka. Kartiny derevenskoi zhizni v Chekhii. Soch. Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Perevod s cheshshogo. I-V
Vi’lki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga piataia, I
V. P. Kliushnikov, Otryvok iz romana ‘Bol’shie korabli’
L. N. Tolstoi, Tysiacha vosem’ sot piatyi god. Chast’ vtoraia, X-XIV
Bibliograficheskie zametki
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

April 1866

A. N. Veselovskii, Muzyka u Slavian
Babushka. Kartiny derevenskoi zhizni v Chekhii. Soch. Bozheny Nemtsovoi. VI-VIII
Belliustin, Religioznaia zhizn’ v Soedinennykh Shtatakh
A. Umants, O sel’skikh shkolakh v tverskom udel’nom umenii
Vi’lki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga piataia, I-III
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 2, I-VI
L. N. Tolstoi, Tysiacha vosem’ sot piatyi god. Chast’ vtoraia, XV-XXIV
Materialy dlia russkoi istorii. Dnevnik Korba
Bibliograficheskie zametki
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

Vol 63, 5-6 (1866)

May 1866

P. I. Mel’nikov, Istoricheskie ocherki Popovshchiny. X-XI
A. A. Fet, Stikhotvorenie
M. Sidorov, Sever Rossii. I-V
Amurskii khlebopashets, Iz amurskoi zhizni
Babushka. Kartiny derevenskoi zhizni v Chekhii. Soch. Bozheny Nemtsovoi. IX-XIII
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki. Ot 1815 do 1830 goda
A. M. Matushinskii, Poslednie gody zhizni Torval’dsena. I-III
A. U., O zaselenii Kryma novymi poselentsami
Vi’lki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Kniga shestaia, I-II
V. P. Kliushnikov, Eshche otryvok iz romana ‘Bol’shie korabli’
T., Kuriozy inostrannoi literatury o Rossii
Bibliograficheskie zametki
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

June 1866

V. P. Ivanov-Zheludkov, Russkoe selo v Maloi Azii
O., Chetyre epizoda iz blokada Karsa
Babushka. Kartiny derevenskoi zhizni v Chekhii. Soch. Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Okonchanie
N. A. Trokhimovskii, Ofeni
Vi’lki Kollins, Armadel’. Roman. Okonchanie
M. Sidorov, Sever Rossii. Okonchanie
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 2, VII-IX
A. A. Fet, Vesna. Stikhotvorenie
Kulomzin, Finansovoe polozhenie Anglii i politika ministra Gladstona

Vol 64, 7-8 (1866)

July 1866

V. P. Ivanov-Zheludkov, Slovatskie sela pod Presburgom
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki
A. Kostromintinov, Dva sobytiia v San-Frantsisko v 1865 i 1866 godu. Rasskaz ochevidtsa
A. Ivanitskii, Zametka o gornom dele na Kavkaze
V. I. Povaliaev, Sud’ba Braunshveigshoi familii v Rossii s kontsa 1741 po 1780 god
A. N. Veselovskii, Muzyka u Slavian. Okonchanie
V. Strokovskii, Po zapadnomu beregu Kaspiiskogo moria. I-IV
Belliustin, Religioznaia zhizn’ v Soedinennykh Shtatakh. III
Byvalyi, Pervaia kholera v Peterburge. Vospominaniia ochevidtsa
M. P. Pogodin, ‘Moskovskii zhurnal’ Karamzina. Otryvok iz biografii
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 2, X-XIII
Babushkino gore. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. I-VII
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

August 1866

M. I. Semevskii, Semen Andreevich Poroshin 1741-1769. Neizdanie pribavleniia k ego Zapiskam
V. Strokovskii, Po zapadnomu beregu Kaspiiskogo moria. Okonchanie
L. Karavelov, Bosko. Rasskaz iz bolgarskio zhizni
Babushkino gore. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. Okonchanie
***, Zhitomir v 1861 i 1866 godakh
D. I. Zavalishin, London, Parizh i Moskva
P. D. Boborykin, Mir uspekha. Ocherki parizhskoi dramaturgii. I-XXXII
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 2, XIV-XV
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Vostochnyi vopros i diplomatiia
Bibliograficheskie zametki

Supplement

Nakanune Martinova dnia. Roman mistris Genri Vud. V dvukh chastiakh. Perevod s angliiskogo. I-IV

Vol 65, 9-10 (1866)

September 1866

P. I. Mel’nikov, Istoricheskie ocherki Popovshchiny. XII-XIII
P. D. Boborykin, Mir uspekha. Ocherki parizhskoi dramaturgii. Okonchanie
G., Raskol kak orudie vrazhdebnykh Rossii partii
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Vostochnyi vopros i diplomatiia
A. K. Tolstoi, Dva stikhotvoreniia
V Shumavskikh gorakh. Povest’ Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Perevod s cheshskogo. I-IV
Novinskaia, Verbovshchiki. Povest’
Bibliograficheskie zametki
A. K. Tolstoi, Pantalei-tselitel’. Stikhotvorenie
Uspekha estestvoznaniia. Godichnoe sobranie Britanskogo obshchestva Spospeshestvovaniia Nauk
Alek, Korrespondentsiia i zametki

October 1866

V. P. Bezobrazov, Mysli po povodu mirovoi sudebnoi vlasti
V Shumavskikh gorakh. Povest’ Bozheny Nemtsovoi. V-VIII
A. N-O., Shakh-Gussein
I. N. Shatilov, Po povodu obnovleniiai oblesneniia Krymskogo poluostrova
P. D. Boborykin, V chuzhom pole. Roman v dvukh knigakh. Kniga pervaia, I-XXII
N. M. Blagoveshchenskii, Rimskii satirik Persii
A. K. Tolstoi, Chuzhoe gore. Stikhotvorenie
Bibliograficheskie zametki
Alek, Tsirkuliar Markuza Lavaletta i sovremennaia politika Frantsii

Supplement

Nakanune Martinova dnia. Roman mistris Genri Vud. VII-XX

Vol 66, 11-12 (1866)

November 1866

G., Raskol kak orudie vrazhdebnykh Rossii partii
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Chast’ 3, I-VI
V Shumavskikh gorakh. Povest’ Bozheny Nemtsovoi. IX-XI
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin
Griaznie vulkany v Krymu
Atlanticheskii telegraf

Supplement

Nakanune Martinova dnia. Roman mistris Genri Vud. Chast’ pervaia. Okonchanie. Chast’ vtoraia, I-VIII

December 1866

P. D. Boborykin, V chuzhom pole. Okonchanie
Chernogortsy. Poema Ivana Mazhuranicha. Perevod s serbsko-khorvatskogo.
V Shumavskikh gorakh. Povest’ Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Okonchanie
F. M. Dostoevskii, Prestuplenie i nakazanie. Okonchanie
V. S. Nekliudov, Neskol’ko slov o vostochnom voprose
S. K. Smirnov, Materialy dlia russkoi istorii. Dnevnik Korba
Alek, Sovremennaia politika Frantsii

Supplement

Nakanune Martinova dnia. Roman mistris Genri Vud. Okonchanie

No Comments by Sarah Young on August 8, 2010
filed in Russian Literature, Russian journals
tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Russkii vestnik 1867

In 1867, Russkii vestnik published Turgenev’s novel Smoke, as well as two articles in Vladimir Dal”s series Pictures of Russian life and poetry by A. N. Maikov, A. A. Fet, and Count A. K. Tolstoy. A translation of the first part of Faust appears in the July issue. There are articles by Laroche, on the historical study of music, and the significance of Glinka, and the beginning of Subbotin’s series on the chronicles of the Schism. The prize for the most unlikely article of the year probably goes to Zavalishin for his contribution on fishing and whaling in the Great Ocean.

vol 67, 1-2 (1867)

January 1867

N. G. Ustrialov, Smert’ Patkulia
A. N. Maikov, Strannik. Pervaia chast’ poemy ‘Zhazhdushchii’
N. A. Liubimov, V chem dukh estestvovedeniia?
V. P. Bezobrazov, O vlianii ekonomicheskoi nauki na gosudarstvennuiu zhizn’ v sovremennoi Evropy
G. P. Danilevskii, Novie mesta. Roman v dvukh chastakh. Chast’ pervaia
I. N. Berezin, Blazhenstvo Musul’manina. K fiziologiu sumasshestviia
V. I. Dal’, Kartiny russkogo byta
E. M. Feoktistov, Nachalo russkogo vladichestva v Zakavkaze
V. F., Iz vospominanii byvshego gvardeiskogo sapera o pol’skoi voiny 1831 goda
M. F. Khandrikov, Zatmenie 22-ogo fevralia 1867 goda

February 1867

V. F., Iz vospominanii byvshego gvardeiskogo sapera o pol’skoi voiny 1831 goda
N. V-v, Ocherki Krita
A. N. Maikov, Karamzin. Neokonchennoe stikhotvorenie
G. P. Danilevskii, Novie mesta. Okonchanie
A. A. Fet, Lzhe-poetu. Stikhotvorenie
P. I. Mel’nikov, Istoricheskie ocherki Popovshchiny. XIV
V. I. Roskovshenko, Iz malorossiiskikh predanii
R. A. Fadeev, Vooruzhennie sily Rossii
M. M. Troitskii, Uspekhi psikhologicheskoi metody v Anglii co vremen Bekona i Lokka
N. Bitsyn, Smuta. Dramaticheskie stseny
Bibliograficheskaia zametka
N. F. Dubrovin, Zametka

vol 68, 3-4 (1867)

I. S. Turgenev, Dym. Povest’
R. A. Fadeev, Vooruzhennie sily Rossii. VII-XII
P. P. Val’rond, Vnutrennyi byt’ itonskoi shkoly
M. M. Troitskii, Uspekhi psikhologicheskoi metody v Anglii co vremen Bekona i Lokka. Okonchanie
Komandirovka kapitana Al’branta v Persiu v 1838 godu, rasskazannaia im samim
S. K. Smirnov, Kandiia. Istoricheskii ocherk
L. S. Karavekhov, Iz zapisok bolgara
D. P., Partiia Gertsena i staroobriadtsy

April 1867

R. A. Fadeev, Vooruzhennie sily Rossii. XIII-XXII
V. I. Dal’, Kartiny russkogo byta
V. V. Komarov, Persidskaia voina 1722-1725
A. N. Veselovskii, Istoricheskaia literatura vo Frantsii
L. S. Karavekhov, Iz zapisok bolgara. V-VIII
G., Raskol kak orudie vrazhdebnykh Rossii partii
Selenie na skale. Povest’. Perevod s angliiskogo. I-IV
Ol’ga N., Ne soshlis’. Povest’
Vodianik. Iz cheshskikh narodnyikh predanii. Stikhotvorenie K. Ia. Erbena.
A. N. Maikov, Serbskaia tserkov’. Volnoe perelozhenie serbskoi pesni
P. K. Shchebal’skii, Prezhnii i nyneshnii panslavizm

vol 69, 5-6 (1867)

May 1867

S. N., Konstantinopolskie pis’ma (1861-1866)
R. A. Fadeev, Vooruzhennie sily Rossii. XXIII-XXVII
Dobryi chelovek. Rasskaz Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Perevod s cheshskogo
M., Kniazhna Tarakanova i Printsessa Vladimirskaia. I-XIV
A. Kulomzin, Financii Avstrii v epokhu ministrerstva fon-Shmerlinga. I-III
Selenie na skale. V-VIII
G., Raskol kak orudie vrazhdebnykh Rossii partii
V. I. Roskovshenko, Marusiia. Malorossiiskoe predanie
P. Shch., Bibliograficheskie zametki

June 1867

T., Vospominaniia o kampanii 1829 goda v evropeiskoi Turtsii. I-IV
P. I. Mel’nikov, Ocherki Mordvy. I-II
S. A. Smirnov, Geologicheskie otnosheniia i zemletriaseniia v Piatigorske.
R. A. Fadeev, Vooruzhennie sily Rossii. XXVIII-XXX
Selenie na skale. IX-XIII
A. K. Tolstoi, Protiv techeniia. Stikhotvorenie
N. P., V vagone. Rasskaz
V. Shatilov, Iug Rossii i ego zheleznye dorogi
M., Kniazhna Tarakanova i Printsessa Vladimirskaia. XV-XXVI

Supplement

Olivia Rotsei. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. I-XIV [not included]

vol 70, 7-8 (1867)

July 1867

T., Vospominaniia o kampanii 1829 goda v evropeiskoi Turtsii. Okonchanie
R. A. Fadeev, Vooruzhennie sily Rossii. Okonchanie
P. D. Babarykin, Efraim Lessing i Doktor Retcher kak kritiki stsennicheskoi igry
A. Kulomzin, Financii Avstrii v epokhu ministrerstva fon-Shmerlinga. Okonchanie
Faust. Tragediia Gete. Chast’ pervaia. Stsena pervaia. Perevod I. N. Pavlova
Selenie na skale. Okonchanie
S. N., Dve poezdki v Brussu (1861-1865)
N. V. Berg, Moi skitaniia po belu svetu

Supplement

Olivia Rotsei. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. XV-XXVI [not included]

August 1867

N. Kh. Bunge, Bumazhnie den’gi i bankovaia sistema severo-Amerikanskikh Soedinennykh Shtatov
Ia. P. Polonskii, Iz poemy ‘Brat’ia’. III
V zamke i vozle zamka. Rasskaz Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Perevod s cheshskogo
N. Zeidlits, Ocherki iuzhno-kaspiiskikh portov i torgovli
B. Lesnitstskii, Tipy proshlogo. Roman. Chast’ 1. I-V
M., Kniazhna Tarakanova i Printsessa Vladimirskaia. Okonchanie
Gustav de Molinari, Sezonnie kongressy
G. A. Larosh, Istoricheskoe izuchenie muzyki
Liubopytnyi perevod. Istoriia induktivnikh nauk ot drevnogo do nastoiashchego vremeni Vil’iama Uevella
A. D. Gradovskii, Russkaia uchenaia literatura.O narodnom predstavitel’stva. Soch. B. Chicherina.

Supplement

Olivia Rotsei. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. Chast’ 2. I-IV [not included]

vol 71, 9-10 (1867)

September 1867

E., Iunskie prazdniki v Rime
B. Lesnitstskii, Tipy proshlogo. Okonchanie pervoi chasti
Ia. P. Polonskii, Sovremennaia idilliia. Stikhotvorenie
A. S. Trachevskii, Pol’skoe bezkorolev’e i rumynskaia neuriaditsy vo vtoroi polovine XVI veka
A. G-v, Muzykal’noe obshchestvj v Konstantinopole
Solntse. Stat’ia Dzhona Gershelia. Perevod s angliiskogo
N. V. Berg, Moi skitaniia po belu svetu
P. I. Mel’nikov, Ocherki Mordvy. III-V
A. K. Tolstoi, Magadeva i baiadera. Indiiskaia legenda. Iz Gete. Stikhotvorenie
P. Shch., Bibliograficheskie zametki
A.. D. Gradovskii, Russkaia uchenaia literatura.O narodnom predstavitel’stva. Soch. B. Chicherina. Okonchanie
O dopushchenii russkogo iazyka v inovercheskoe bogosluzhenie

Supplement

Olivia Rotsei. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. Chast’ 2. V-X [not included]

October 1867

P. I. Mel’nikov, Ocherki Mordvy. VI
N. Kh. Bunge, Obshchii oborot vneshnei torgovli, torgovyi balans i tamozhennye poshliny pervostepennykh derzhav v XIX stoletii
Ia. P. Polonskii, Iz poemy ‘Brat’ia’. IV
B. Lesnitstskii, Tipy proshlogo. Chast’ 2, XIX-XXIV
G. A. Larosh, Glinka i ego znachenie v istorii muzyki
N. I. Subbotin, Iz sovremennikh letopisei raskola
D. I. Zavalishin, Rybolovstvo i kitolovstvo v velikom okeane
P. B., Neskol’ko svedenii o srednikh uchebnykh zavedeniiakh v Prussii
A. S. Trachevskii, Pol’skoe bezkorolev’e po prekrashchenii dinastii Iagellonov. I-III
Bibliograficheskie zametki
Alek, Rimskii vopros pred konferentsiei

Supplement

Olivia Rotsei Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. Chast’ 2, XI-XVIII
Moia nevestka. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. I-III
[not included]

vol. 72, 11-12 (1867)

November 1867

N. Kh. Bunge, Obshchii oborot vneshnei torgovli, torgovyi balans i tamozhennye poshliny pervostepennykh derzhav v XIX stoletii. Okonchanie
V. V. Komarov, Materialy dlia russkoi istorii, 1716-1720
Gornaia idilliia. Iz byta slovakov. Rasskaz Bozheny Nemtsovoi. Perevod s cheshskogo
N. I. Rozanov, Vospominaniia o Daniile Mikhailoviche Velanskom
B. Lesnitstskii, Tipy proshlogo. Chast’ 2 (prodolzhenie)
N. S. Tikhonravov, Kvirin Kul’man. I
N. I. Subbotin, Iz sovremennikh letopisei raskola. II. On Iustine Tul’chinskom
E., Iunskie prazdniki v Rime. II
Bibliograficheskie zametki

Supplement

Olivia Rotsei. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. Okonchanie
Moia nevestka. Roman. Perevod s angliiskogo. IV-IX
[not included]

December 1867

V. F., Iz vospominanii byvshego gvardeiskogo sapera
N. A. Popov, Poznanskie seimi ot 1827 po 1845 god
I. V. Samarin, Samozvanets Luba. Istoricheskaia drama v cheterekh deistviiakh c prologom
N. Kozlovskii, Istoriia ikony Ostrobramskoi bogoroditsy
Iz zapisok Sergeia Nikolaevicha Glinki
N. S. Tikhonravov, Kvirin Kul’man. Okonchanie
B. Lesnitstskii, Tipy proshlogo. Okonchanie
E., Iunskie prazdniki v Rime. III
A. Brianchaninov, Tri svidaniia. Rasskaz
E., Poteshnyi dvor
I. I. Belliustin, Po povodu shestidesiat’ tret’ego doklada Britanskogo Bibleiskogo Obshchestva

No Comments by Sarah Young on August 1, 2010
filed in Russian Literature, Russian journals
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Siberian narratives on archive.org and Google Books

While I’ve been working on my article on narratives of imprisonment and exile, I’ve come across a fair amount of digitized material on the subject. Particularly surprising was the number of works about Siberian exile published in English in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries — aside from George Kennan’s wonderful Siberia and the Exile System and Kropotkin’s prison writings, I’d only heard of a couple of the other books I found. Some are travel notes which touch in some way on the exile question (I have excluded books on Siberia which do not appear to address the issue at all), others take Russian prison and exile as their main focus, and some are accounts of exile life by escapees. They represent quite an interesting resource, and could shed some light on British and American views of Russia. I think we tend to assume that our on-going fascination with Russia (most recently apparent in the spy case) is a product of the Cold War. But in fact our appetite for the particular brand of geographical and political exoticism that Siberia represents significantly pre-dates the Soviet period, and it continues even today, as the headlines about BP boss Tony Hayward being sent to Siberia suggest.

Anyway, here are lists of the Russian and English resources I’ve found, in chronological order:

Russian

S. V. Maksimov, Sibir’ i katorga (1871)

N. M. Iadrintsev, Russkaia obshchina v tiur’me i ssylke (1872)

V. N. Nikitin, Tiur’ma i ssylka: Istoricheskoe, zakonodatel’noe, administrativnoe i bytovoe polozhenie zakliuchennykh, peresil’nykh, ikh detei i osvobozhdennykh iz pod strazhi, so vremeni vozniknoveniia russkoi tiur’my, do nashikh dnei (1880)

N. M. Iadrintsev, Sibir’ kak koloniia (1882)

D. A. Dril’, Ssylka vo Frantsii i Rossii (1899)

Vlas Doroshevich, Sakhalin (katorga) (1903)

[n. ed], Tiur’ma i ssylka: Obraztsy iz zhizni politicheskikh pretupnikov v Rossii (Leipzig, 1905) [a collection of narratives, including extracts from Kennan and Korolenko]

Petr Kropotkin, Tiur’my, ssylki i katorga v Rossii (1906)

V. Obinskii, Letopis’ russkoi revoliutsii, t. 3, vypusk 1-i: Meri protiv pechata. Tiurma i ssylka. Karatel’nye ekspeditsii. Smertnye kazni (1907)

M. V. Novorusskii, Zapiski Shlisselburzhtsa 1887-1905 (1920)

English

Sophie Cottin, Elizabeth, or The Exiles of Siberia: A Tale Founded Upon Facts (1815). Also on Google books

Charles Herbert Cottrell, Recollections of Siberia, in the Years 1841 and 1842 (1842). Also on Google books

Ewa Felinska, Revelations of Siberia (1854), vol. 1 and vol. 2. Vol 1 also on Google books

S. S. Hill, Travels in Siberia (1854)

Rufin Piotrowski, My Escape from Siberia (1863)

M. Rufin Piotrowski, The Story of a Siberian Exile (1863)

A. E. Rozen, Russian Conspirators in Siberia: A Personal Narrative (1872)

Henry Lansdell, Through Siberia (1882), vol. 1 and vol. 2

James W. Buel, Russian Nihilism and Exile Life in Siberia (1883)

Petr Kropotkin, In Russian and French Prisons (1887)

George Kennan, Siberia and the Exile System (1891), vol. 1 and vol. 2. Also on Google books: vol. 1 and vol. 2

George Alfred Henty, Condemned as a Nihilist: A Story of Escape from Siberia (1892)

Harry de Windt, Siberia as it is (1892)

Victor Tissot, Escaped from Siberia: The adventure of three distressed fugitives (1894)

Harry de Windt, The New Siberia: Being an account of a visit to the penal island of Sakhalin, and political prison and mines of the Trans-Baikal district, Eastern Siberia (1896)

Jonas Jonsson Stadling, Through Siberia (1901)

Benjamin Douglas Howard, Prisoners of Russia: a personal study of convict life in Sakhalin and Siberia (1902)

Charles Henry Hawes, In the Uttermost East: Being an account of investigations among the natives and Russian convicts of the island of Sakhalin, with notes of travel in Korea, Siberia, and Manchuria (1904)

Lev Deutch, Sixteen Years in Siberia (1905)

Petr Kropotkin, The Terror in Russia: an appeal to the British nation (1909)

I. P. Youvatshev, The Russian Bastille, or The Schluesselburg Fortress (1909)

Marie Sukloff, The life-story of a Russian Exile: The remarkable experience of a young girl, being an account of her peasant childhood, her girlhood in prison, her exile to Siberia, and her escape from there (1914)

No Comments by Sarah Young on July 29, 2010
filed in Russia
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Siberian prison and exile: two studies

I’m currently working on revisions to an article on nineteenth-century narratives of prison and exile (see my previous posts on an earlier stage of work on this and on the conference where I presented it), and in the process of completing my reading, two works have stood out in different ways: Sergei Maksimov’s Sibir’ i katorga (Siberia and Hard Labour,1871) and Nikolai Iadrintsev’s Sibir’ kak koloniia (Siberia as a Colony, 1882).

Sergei Vasil'evich Maksimov (1831-1901)

Maksimov’s book, which he wrote following an ethnographic expedition to Siberia in 1860-1861, was probably the first major work on the use Siberia for punishing criminals after Dostoevsky’s Notes from the House of the Dead, and it’s a very wide-ranging study. Part 1 is called ‘The Unfortunates’ (Neschastnyie — the word popularly used to describe criminals in imperial Russia), and as the title suggests, it is mostly focused on the prison/exile population, with lots of individual portraits used to illustrate different aspects of the system, in chapters on prisoner transport, hard labour, escape, subsistence, settlements, prison songs and prison language. Part 2, ‘The Guilty and the Accused’, deals with different types of criminals, and has chapters covering murderers, thieves and swindlers, vagrants and escapees, arsonists, and those who have committed crimes against faith, the public purse, and family law. Part 3 is titled ‘Political and State Criminals’, and includes, among other things, a study of the Decembrists and a history of hard labour and exile.

For me the most interesting chapter was that addressing language, and it’s significant not so much because of the wealth of detail Maksimov incorporates, but because of his perception that it is a crucial element of prison/exile life. He even discusses ‘wall language’, a system of tapping out letters, and describes the Decembrists working out  an efficient system for this form of inter-cell communication during their imprisonment in the Alexeevsky Ravelin at the Peter and Paul Fortress in Petersburg (pp. 159-160). Not only is the use of wall language a recurring feature of Russian narratives of imprisonment, but it’s always learnt from a book — I can’t recall off hand whether Vera Figner remembers it from reading one of the Decembrists’ memoirs, or if it was a work like Maximov’s, so I’ll check that next time I’m in the office, but then Evgeniia Ginzburg, in her famous memoir Into the Whirlwind, remembers reading about the wall-tapping system in Figner’s memoirs, and soon becomes fully involved in conversations from cell to cell. So communication becomes doubly important. For survival in prison, developing a means of communication was essential, but equally, the production of memoirs that passed on knowledge of the prison system and life played an important role in educating and preparing subsequent generations. I suspect Maksimov’s book became part of that tradition as well.

Maksimov is clearly captivated by the humour and playfulness of prison language, and provides seemingly endless lists of expressions, for everything from numbers (p. 167) to terms for mourning a friend (p. 170). It’s an interesting resource from this point of view, but for the general reader, he does rather over-do it, and it becomes very heavy going. On the other hand there is a perceptive discussion of why such a rich linguistic culture developed, as he explains it in terms, for example, of the need to obscure meaning from outsiders, and to find, invent or perfect forms of expression which will convey one’s understanding of prison life and experience in the briefest of terms — the convicts’ linguistic creativity in House of the Dead is a good example of what Maksimov is talking about.

Nikolai Mikhailovich Iadrintsev (1842-1894)

Iadrintsev’s Siberia as a Colony is, as the title suggests, a more general study that covers geography, climate and economics, as well as having a strong ethnographic and sociological focus. There is only one chapter that directly addresses exile and punishment, but it’s very interesting and evocative, and with every word you get an even stronger sense of the author’s outrage at the cost of using Siberia as a ‘colossal prison’ (p. 298), in human, economic, and ecological terms. He steadily dismantles arguments that the exile system is beneficial for anyone involved, demonstrating, for example, its failure to increase the size of the settler population (pp. 244-254), its negative economic impact (pp. 294-298), and its contribution to crime, debauchery and immorality (pp. 272-278).

Of particular significance is Iadrintsev’s focus on the brodiaga (vagabond). He saw vagrancy as characteristic of Siberia, and used the brodiaga to show how the exile system institutes a cycle of degeneration that leads from vagrancy to crime (pp. 263-273).  Brodiagi were among those sent to exile in Siberia in the first place, alongside people convicted of public order offences or just considered a nuisance in their local communities. But even those who were not brodiagi to begin with, according to Iadrintsev, ended up becoming so, as exiles (both those simply sent into exile as their punishment, and those released from terms of imprisonment or hard labour following more serious crimes) were left with no means of support or skills with which to earn a living. Poverty left no alternative but escape, and having become brodiagi, not only the hardened criminals, but also the petty criminals and drunks, ended up turning to more serious crime — and the inevitable result was either prison, flogging or death. Iadrintsev’s subversion of the frequently romanticized image of the brodiaga reveals the injustice of a system which does nothing to reform, but rather creates, criminals, and although his indictment of the bureaucracy that supports this situation is largely indirect, it still has enormous power.

Unlike Maksimov, who mainly focused on historical cases, particularly where political crimes were concerned, Iadrintsev mostly addressed the contemporary situation — the bulk of his statistics are from the 1870s — and this may explains his lack of reference to political and administrative exiles, who generally tend to attract more attention in other texts. I would suggest he was not only trying to avoid the censorship, but was also aware, in the early 1880s, following the assassination of Alexander II, that there was unlikely to be much sympathy in government circles for the politicals’ cause. He evidently viewed his intervention on the subject as part of the campaign to reform or abolish exile altogether, and his main concern was for the much larger numbers of ordinary exiles whose lives were blighted by the system, and who in turn blighted the lives of ordinary settlers.

Dostoevsky’s House of the Dead and Chekhov’s Sakhalin Island remain, for me, the two high points of prison discourse in Russian literature (would the tradition even have developed if Dostoevsky had not written his book?), but they were part of a significant larger debate, in which Maksimov’s and Iadrintsev’s texts also stand out. Another essential contribution, Vlas Doroshevich’s highly popular and very readable, if slightly sensationalist, account, Sakhalin (Katorga) (Sakhalin: Hard Labour, 1903), has recently been translated by Andrew A. Gentes, under the title Russia’s Penal Colony in the Far East: A Translation of Vlas Doroshevich’s “Sakhalin” (London and New York: Anthem, 2009).

No Comments by Sarah Young on July 26, 2010
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