1856 saw the first volumes of Russkii vestnik appear, and as Russian culture began to emerge from the stagnation that characterized the final years of Nicholas I’s rule, the journal began with a strong set of contributors, many of whom then continued to appear in the journal for many years. Literary works include Ostrovsky’s play A Hangover at a Stranger’s Feast, a sizeable selection from Shchedrin’s Provincial Sketches, Evgeniia Tur’s The Old Woman (Tur also contributes an essay on George Sand), and Narskaia’s Family Scenes. There is poetry by A. K. Tolstoy, Konstantin Aksakov, and, to my surprise, Nikolai Ogarev. I didn’t know he could be published openly in Russia at the time, and in any case assumed his political distance from Katkov would have precluded him appearing in Russkii vestnik. While there are articles with a historical focus, such as S. M. Solov’ev on ancient Russia, and on socio-economic subjects, including Boris Chicherin’s essay on village communes in Russia, there is overall a substantial bias towards biography and memoir, with extracts from Sergei Aksakov’s memoirs, Lazhechnikov’s memoirs of Pushkin (the latter also featuring in articles by Katkov), the autobiography of the recently deceased critic and ethnographer Nikolai Nadezhdin, with additions by P. S. Savel’ev, and D. A. Miliutin on Suvorov. The supplements that became such a feature in later years only appear intermittently with the first volumes, but here we have Charlotte M. Yonge’s Heartsease, Or the Brother’s Wife.
vol 1 (1856)
January-February 1856
Neizdannyi otryvok iz pervogo toma Mervykh Dush, naidennyi v rukopisiakh Gogolia
S. M. Solov’ev, Drevniaia Rossiia
Evgeniia Tur, Starushka. Povest’. I-II
S. T. Aksakov, Otryvok iz vospominanii (Gimnaziia – period vtoroi)
P. N. Kudriavtsev, Karl V. I
M. N. Katkov, Pushkin. I
Ob okeanii i ee zhiteliakh. Chtenie T. N. Granovskogo
A. N. Ostrovskii, V chuzhom piru pokhmel’e. Komediia v dvukh deistviiakh
Evgeniia Tur, Starushka. Povest’. III-IV
M. N. Katkov, Pushkin. II-III
Stikhotvorenie
M. A. Dmitriev
K. S. Aksakov
N. P. Ogarev
Voina za nasledstvo Ispanskogo Prestola. Stat’ia Tomasa Bebingtona Makoleia
B. N. Chicherin, Obzor istoricheskogo razvitiia Sel’skoi Obshchiny v Rossii. I
N. P. Ogarev, Zimnii put’. Iz dorozhnykh vospominanii. Stikhotvorenie
P. N. Kudriavtsev, Karl V. II
Trigorskii, V svete i doma. Povest’. I
Larets. Neizdannoe stikhotvorenie Del’viga
O. M. Bodianskii, Novye otkrytiia v oblasti Glagolitsy
S. D. Shestakov, Ody Goratsiia v perevode g. Feta
B. N. Chicherin, Obzor istoricheskogo razvitiia Sel’skoi Obshchiny v Rossii. II-III
I. I. Lazhechnikov, Znakomstvo moe s Pushkinym (iz moikh pamiatnykh zapisok)
Trigorskii, V svete i doma. Povest’. II
I. N. Berezin, Ramazan v Stambule
P. V. Annenkov, O raznykh vidakh gazoosveshcheniia i o prigodnosti ikh dlia Moskvy
Stikhotvorenie Mura. Perevod B.
Sovemennaia letopis’ [not included]
Supplement
Nevestka (Heartsease or The Brother’s Wife). Roman v trekh chastiakh. Perevod s angliiskogo. Chast’ pervaia i vtoroi chasti I-V
vol 2 (1856)
March-April 1856
P. K. Shch-i, Pravlenie Tsarevny Sofii
P. S. Savel’ev, N. I. Nadezhdin. Avtobiografiia s dopolneniem
Trigorskii, V svete i doma. Povest’
M. L. Mikhailov, Napraslina. Rasskaz
I. N. Berezin, Ramazan v sultanskom dvortse i beiram
A. S. Ershov, Noveishie uspekhi mehkaniki v oblasti sel’skogo khoziaistva
Stikhotvorenie
A. M. Zhemchuzhnikov, Skvorushka
Ia. P. Polonskii, Pesnia
F. B. Miller, Truzhenik
N. M. Pavlov, Sem’ stikhotvorenii
N. P. Ogarev, Afrika
K. K. Pavlova, ‘Ty, utselevshii v serdtse nishchem’
Gr. A. K. Tolstoi, Shest’ stikhotvorenii
N. P. Ogarev, Shest’ stikhotvorenii
D. A. Miliutin, Suvorov. Glava iz prigotovlennoi ko vtoromu izdaniiu ‘Istorii voiny 1799 goda’
E. Narskaia, Semeinye stseny
M. N. Katkov, Pushkin
V. P. Bezobrazov, O promyshlennykh predpriatiiakh
P. N. Kudriavtsev, Karl V
P. K. Shch-i, Pravlenie Tsarevny Sofii
E. Narskaia, Semeinye stseny
F. M. Dmitriev, Russkaia literatura (Semeinaia khronika i Vospominaniia S. T. Aksakova)
S. M. Solov’ev, Avgust Liudvig Shletser
P. K. Shch-i, Pravlenie Tsarevny Sofii
S. Vakhnovskii, Leto v Gapsale. Rasskaz
I. V. Vernadskii, O vneshnei torgovle
Kniagina Bel’dzhoiozo, Kurdskii kniaz’. Rasskaz
Sovemennaia letopis’ [not included]
vol 3 (1856)
May-June 1856
I. I. Lazechnikov, Belen’kie, cheren’kie i seren’kie
P. Shchebal’skii, Pravlenie Tsarevny Sofii
Evgeniia Tur, Zhizn’ Zhorzh-Sanda
I. K. Babst, Istoricheskii metod v politicheskoi ekonomii
M. Bibikov, Uzhin khudozhnikov v 162* godu
Kniagina Bel’dzhoiozo, Kurdskii kniaz’. Rasskaz
B. N. Chicherin, Nesvobodnye sostonaniia v drevnei Rossii
I. N. Berezin, Stseny v pustyne
M. S. Shchepkin, Iz moikh zapisok
Kn. G. V. Kugushev, Kornet Otletaev. Povest’
Vosem’ let stransvovaniia po Tseilonu
D. I. Kachenovskii, Zhizn’ i sochineniia Danielia Vebstera
D. I. Zhuravskii, O zheleznykh dorogakh v Rossii
I. I. Lazechnikov, Belen’kie, cheren’kie i seren’kie
Kn. G. V. Kugushev, Kornet Otletaev. Povest
E. M. Feoktistov, Ansel’m Kanterberiiskii
Evgeniia Tur, Zhizn’ Zhorzh-Sanda
B. N. Chicherin, Eshche o sel’skoi obshchine
Stikhotvorenie
N. P. Ogarev, Prokliast’ by mog svoiu sud’bu
Mikh. Mikhailov, Pesni Geine
N. Pavlov, Ne govori, chto serdtsu bol’no
N. P. Ogarev, K **
N. P. Ogarev, Piat’ stikhotvorenii
Sovremennaia letopis’ [not included]
vol 4 (1856)
[missing]
vol 5 (1856)
[missing]
vol 6 (1856)
November-December 1856
P. N. Kudriavtsev, Karl V. VI-IX (Okonchanie)
N. M. Goncharov, Ot Kronshtadta do mysa Lizarda. Iz putevykh zapisok
Dn. D. D-i, Vstrecha. Iz zapisok moego soseda
M. L. Mikhailov, Pesni Geine. XI-XX
M. S., Aleksei Vasil’evich Kol’tsov
M. N. Katkov, Neskol’ko dopolnitel’nykh slov ok kharakteristike Kol’tsova
N. V. Berg, V gorakh. Stikhotvorenie
P. N. Kudriavtsev, Karl V. VI-IX (Okonchanie)
Ser Robert Pil. Stat’ia Gizo (Okonchanie)
N. Shchedrin, Gubernskie ocherki. XI. Starets. XII. Eshche proshlie vremena. XIII. Chto takoe kommertsiia? XIV. Buerakin. XV. V ostroge. Poseshchenie vtoroe. XVI. Arinushka. XVII. Narodnye prazdniki I i II. XVIII. Priiatnoe semeistvo. XIX. Doroga (vmesto epiloga)
S. M. Solov’ev, Spor o sel’skoi obshchine
A. P-v, Stikhotvoreniia. I. Golos v lesu. II. Zakat’ (Iz Geine)
P. N. Kudriavtsev, Karl V. VI-IX (Okonchanie)
V. V. Stasov, Fotografiia i graviura
N. Shchedrin, Gubernskie ocherki
D. E. Min, Prikhodskie spiski. Poema Georga Krabba
A. S. Chuzhbinskii, Bezymennye tipy. I. Chinovnik. II. Provintsiial’nyi lev
N. V. Berg, Iz krymskikh zametok
Ser Robert Pil. Stat’ia Gizo (Okonchanie)
N. Shchedrin, Gubernskie ocherki
V. V. Stasov, Fotografiia i graviura
S. D. Shestakov, Eshche neskol’ko slov o russkom perevode Goratsievykh od g. Feta
Sovremennaia letopis’ [not included]
Mikhailov’s Pesni Geine, plus a couple of other poems, are available on wikitexts.