Zakharov V. N. What Happened to Dostoyevsky’s Archive from the 1840s?

The article was prepared within the framework of the Strategic Development Program of Petrozavodsk State University, 2012–2014.

(Petrozavodsk State University)

Abstract ♦ The corpus of manuscripts by F.M. Dostoevsky is known to have a number of gaps due to many reasons: the writer’s arrest and sentence in the Petrashevsky trial (1849), his return from Siberia to Tver and then St. Petersburg (1859), four years of wandering across Europe and the subsequent return to Russia (1867–1871), and the later loss of manuscripts of “The Devils”, “The Adolescent” and “The Brothers Karamazov” during the Russian Civil War (1918–1921).

The article looks at the circumstances of disappearance of Dostoevsky’s manuscripts from the 1840s. It is commonly held that they were lost during his trial as a member of the Petrashevsky revolutionary circle. A critical analysis of documents and memoirs has helped us to refute this erroneous opinion.

At Dostoevsky’s arrest, in his own words, “not much was found”. Some of the Petrashevtsy had whole sacks and cartloads of books and papers confiscated. Dostoevsky lost only a small “bundle” of papers and books. The materials of the trial mention only three documents and two prohibited books as confiscated from Dostoevsky: Belinsky’s note, a letter from Pleshcheyev, the writer’s army discharge and some French books. Dostoevsky’s archive was never removed to the Petropavlovskaya fortress.

What, then, happened to Dostoevsky’s early dramas — “Maria Stuart”, “Boris Godunov”, “The Jew Yankel”, — to his incomplete translations, drafts and final versions of his works both published and unpublished, to his correspondence with relatives, friends and fellow writers? A conclusive answer can be found in the memoirs by A.P. Milyukov and S.D. Yanovsky. The writer’s brother Mikhail Dostoevsky burnt the 1840s archive in panic on April 23, 1849. He also destroyed his own papers and went round his friends and acquaintances to collect every document, letter or manuscripts by Fyodor or anyone from his milieu to commit it to the fire.

Keywords: F.M. Dostoevsky, M.V. Petrashevsky, revolutionary movement in Russia, conspiratorial society, investigation, Russian literature, manuscripts, Dostoevsky’s archives.

Zakharov Vladimir Nikolayevich, Doctor of Philology, Professor and Chair, Department of Russian Literature and Journalism, Petrozavodsk State University; President, International Dostoevsky Society. Postal address: 33 Lenin St., Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation, 185910. Tel.: +7 (8142) 71-10-54. E-mail: vnz01@yandex.ru

Citation: Zakharov, V. N. (2014) Kuda ischez arkhiv Dostoevskogo 1840-kh godov?  [What Happened to Dostoyevsky’s Archive from the 1840s?]. Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie, no. 3, pp. 287–296. (In Russ.).

Submission date: 30.05.2014.

RUSSIAN VERSION

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