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TOLSTOY SERIES / VOLUME IV
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Introduction and summaries in
English
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Published
by the
Slavic
Research Group
at the
University of Ottawa
and the
L. N.
Tolstoy Museum
Moscow
2002
ISBN 0-88927-294-8
LEO TOLSTOY'S PERSONAL SECRETARY for two years was Nikolaj Nikolaevich Gusev, before the latter's arrest and exile to Western Siberia in the summer of 1909. One of the great writer's most trusted associates, Gusev subsequently compiled a vast archive of correspondence and memoirs on Tolstoy. This volume contains eight of those memoirs, along with 45 personal letters Gusev wrote to his mentor from 1903 to 1910, mostly from exile, including his attempts to carry on his secretarial duties from there, his perceptions on Tolstoy's works and Tolstoy's influence on his own self-examination.
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From the Editor's Introduction:
NIKOLAJ GUSEV (1882-1967) devoted most of his life to the study of Tolstoy's life and works. ... From 1907 to 1909 he served as Tolstoy's personal secretary, described by his employer as a "priceless assistant and worker" in one of his letters to Vladimir Chertkov. ...The materials were compiled and annotated by Zinaida Ivanova and Lidija Gromova -- legendary Tolstoy specialists in their own way, both of whom were well acquainted with and worked closely with Gusev. Ivanova has also contributed a brief biographical sketch of Gusev. They describe traits of both the professional and the personal, both the outer and the inner Tolstoy, as seen through episodes of everyday life, and here and there shed new light on certain passages from his writings from a completely new and different angle.
From the summaries:
22 September 1909. Korepino. ... Description of activities: cooking, music, reading (esp. War and peace and What is art?). G[usev] wishes to write to T[olstoy] his views on the Russian intelligentsia; he mentions receiving letters from Dushan Makovitskij and Ol'ga Verbitskaja and sends greetings from exile Ignat Shashkov.
3 November 1909. Korepino. ... G. has been borrowing books from the local library, especially Dostoevsky's Notes from the house of the dead, in which he finds many parallels with T.ís own views; he quotes two passages, and wonders about T.'s attitude toward Dostoevsky. He has also been impressed by Maupassant. *** G. suggests (with Chertkov's concurrence) that he himself take over the revision of T.'s On life, which Chertkov has started. ...
Reminiscences by Sergej Nikolaevich Èverling. Èverling describes Tolstoyís ironic reply to a guest's attempt to convince him of the merits of modern medical science, along with his remarks on Turgenev and Darwin. The host repeated his desire to discuss Shpir's views with Èverling as soon as his books had been read. This desire was fulfilled a month later, when Èverling paid a third visit to Khamovniki, this time accompanied by only one other person. In addition to Shpir, their conversation also touched upon the role of medical science and the possibility of revolution in Russia (which Tolstoy admitted, even though he strongly doubted that violent methods would lead to any significant social improvement).
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Note: The Russian words on this page appear in a photo image in place of electronic text.
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.Click on the links below to see other volumes in the Tolstoy series:
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