Tom 69–75, 1896–1904
Candidate hits
| File id | Addressee | Why |
|---|---|---|
| v69_199_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | First request: history/geography/ethnography of the Avar Khanate |
| v70_001_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Requests Caucasus-war memoirs (Poltaratsky, Zisserman) + Avaria/Chechnya volumes; names specific toms |
| v70_020_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Stasov’s eastern-languages note lost in returned Knight vol. 1; signals active reading |
| v70_216_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Returns books; retains “brochures on the Avar Khanate” |
| v73_311_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Detailed list: history of Nicholas I, Kamer-furyersky journal, biography of Vorontsov, Vorontsov–Chernyshov despatches (Fr.), map of Chechnya and Daghestan |
| v73_333_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Mentions working on “пустяками, Хаджи-Муратом”; requests AKAK vol. X |
| v73_334_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Same day follow-up: Grand Duke NM also offering AKAK X; coordination note |
| v73_318_Vel_kn_NikolayuMixajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Asks where to find Nicholas I–Chernyshov–Vorontsov correspondence + marginal rescripts on Caucasus affairs 1851–52; describes work as “one episode from Caucasian history of 1851–52” |
| v73_330_P_I_Bartenevu | P. I. Bartenev | Asks about Vorontsov Archive; already has Vorontsov–Chernyshov letters on HM in Russian translation; seeks French originals |
| v73_338_Vel_kn_NikolayuMixajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Requests reports/despatches and Nicholas I rescripts on Caucasus 1845–52 + AKAK vol. X |
| v73_343_P_I_Bartenevu | P. I. Bartenev | Follow-up on Zisserman volumes; still seeking |
| v73_365_I_P_Nakashidze | I. P. Nakashidze | Thanks for old-soldiers contacts; acknowledges Caucasus-service informants |
| v73_376_Vel_kn_NikolayuMixajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Coordinating on AKAK X via Vejdenbaum; mentions Vorontsov administration archive access |
| v73_415_I_P_Nakashidze | I. P. Nakashidze | Requests Nicholas I’s rescripts on HM specifically; encloses open letter to Tiflis archive chief |
| v73_416_NachalnikuVoenno_istoricheskogootdelaTifli | Chief, Voenno-istorichesky otdel, Tiflis (V. A. Potto) | Thanks for AKAK X already sent; asks to admit a bearer-of-this-letter to work in the Tiflis archive |
| v73_423_I_I_Korganovu | I. I. Korganov | Requests eyewitness details of HM’s stay at Korganov family house: physical appearance of HM, his nukers, the escort officer; method of departure; explicit historicist credo |
| v74_005_I_I_Korganovu | I. I. Korganov | Thanks Korganov for detailed reply; plans to contact Korganov’s mother for further eyewitness details |
| v74_036_Vel_kn_NikolayuMixajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Letter on behalf of Nakashidze (exile petition); context for Nakashidze’s value as Caucasus contact |
| v74_046_S_S_Esadze | S. S. Esadze | Two-point commission: (1) unpublished HM materials beyond AKAK X; (2) Nicholas I’s orders on HM and Caucasian war during Vorontsov’s viceroyalty, especially 1850–52 |
| v74_065_I_P_Nakashidze | I. P. Nakashidze | Distinguishes Kavkazsky sbornik (22 vols) from Sbornik svedeniy o kavkazskikh gortsakh; asks for old Caucasus infantry officer to verify fortress-outpost tactics in 1852; mentions Esadze’s work |
| v74_069_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Asks Stasov to clarify whether Kavkazsky sbornik = Sbornik svedeniy o kavkazskikh gortsakh; already has vols I–VI of the latter + borrowed VII–IX from Rumyantsev Museum; asks for vols X onward if different |
| v74_078_I_P_Nakashidze | I. P. Nakashidze | Thanks Nakashidze and Esadze (who copied extracts by hand); states Kavkazsky sbornik now secured; no longer needs further Korganov route |
| v74_079_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Thanks; all books now in hand; asks to convey gratitude to Lambin and Kobeko |
| v74_080_DirektoruPublichnojbibliotekiD_F_Kobeko | Director D. F. Kobeko, Imperial Public Library | Acknowledges receipt of 10 vols of Kavkazsky sbornik from the library |
| v74_111_Vel_kn_NikolayuMixajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Discusses evolving portrait of Nicholas I; confirms NM is the grandfather being depicted |
| v74_132_I_P_Nakashidze | I. P. Nakashidze | States work on HM suspended; dismisses the story as “not worth the trouble good people take”; Kavkazsky sbornik secured |
| v74_147_S_S_Esadze | S. S. Esadze | Thanks for “enormous labour”; declares source-gathering complete; asks Esadze to stop further work; requests inventory of loaned archival materials for return |
| v74_175_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Declines “Kavkaz i ego geroi”; requests list of Public Library books held at Yasnaya; asks for index of Nicholas I’s decrees and legislative confirmations (2nd Division) for mid-1851 to mid-1852 |
| v74_185a_E_G_Vejdenbaumu | E. G. Vejdenbaum (Tiflis) | Returns AKAK vol. X with note; pencil marginalia not his own |
| v74_187_M_M_Kantakuzenu | Prince M. M. Kantakuzen | Returns issues of Istorichesky vestnik |
| v74_247_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Reading list / request: Gerlach memoirs 1827–28, Custine 1839, Hofkuryersky journal 1827–28, Russkaya starina 1894–1902, Shildera “Nikolay I” late period |
| v74_251_S_S_Tatishchevu | S. S. Tatishchev | Thanks for books sent; Tatishchev’s history of Alexander II noted |
| v74_287_Vel_kn_Nikolaju_Mihajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Dukhobor passport petition; no HM content but shows continued relationship |
| v74_310_Vel_kn_NikolayuMixajlovichu | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich | Discusses NM’s prefaces to vols 2–3 of his Stroganov work; praises characterisation of S. R. Vorontsov; confirms personal acquaintance with M. S. Vorontsov; reveals depth of Vorontsov research thread |
| v75_106_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | Returns Kavkazsky sbornik, Nietzsche, and decree collection; retains Bernhardi, Gerlach, Custine, Russkaya starina; requests Decembrist memoirs |
| v75_134_V_V_Stasovu | V. V. Stasov | HM work complete; now occupied with Nicholas I and psychology of despotism; signals HM chapter closed |
Finalists
1. v69_199 — Stasov, 27 December 1896
Date: 27 декабря 1896, Москва
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
Благодарю за готовность помочь мне книгами. Не присылайте слишком много. Главное, нужно мне историю, географию, этнографию Аварского ханства в нынешнем столетии.
Working EN: “Thank you for your readiness to help me with books. Do not send too many. The main thing I need is the history, geography, ethnography of the Avar Khanate in the present century.”
Significance: Earliest confirmed research request for Hadji Murat materials — history/geography/ethnography of Avaria, six months after the July 1896 diary entry recording the thistle image and the intention to write.
2. v70_001 — Stasov, 4 January 1897
Date: 4 января 1897, Москва
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
Нет ли записок, кроме Полторацкого и Зисермана, касающихся Кавказа и войны в 40—60 годах? Вот мои дерзкие и покорные просьбы. Прошу простить и не бранить. Из этих 20 томов те, которые касаются Аварии и Чечни.
Working EN: “Are there not memoirs, besides those of Poltaratsky and Zisserman, touching on the Caucasus and the war in the [18]40s–60s? Here are my audacious and humble requests. Of those 20 volumes — those that concern Avaria and Chechnya.”
Significance: Names specific memoirists already in hand (Poltaratsky, Zisserman); requests additional Caucasus-war memoirs; specifies Avaria and Chechnya as the geographic scope. First itemised library commission to Stasov.
3. v70_216 — Stasov, 7 November 1897
Date: 7 ноября 1897, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
Из ваших книг у меня остались только брошюры об Аварском ханстве. Если я ошибаюсь, поправьте.
Working EN: “Of your books, all that remain with me are the brochures on the Avar Khanate. Correct me if I am wrong.”
Significance: Confirms Stasov supplied Avar Khanate brochures; Tolstoy still holding them a year later — active use.
4. v73_311 — Stasov, 10 August 1902
Date: 10 августа 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
1) Историю Николая. 2) Камер-фурьерский журнал. 3) Биографию Воронцова. (Всё в 1852 году.) 4) Если можно, донесения, письма Воронцова Чернышеву (по-французски). 5) Карту подробную Чечни и Дагестана.
Working EN: “1) History of Nicholas [I]. 2) The Kamer-furyersky journal. 3) A biography of Vorontsov. (All for 1852.) 4) If possible, Vorontsov’s despatches and letters to Chernyshov (in French). 5) A detailed map of Chechnya and Daghestan.”
Significance: Itemised five-point commission, all keyed to 1852 — the year of HM’s surrender and death. The Vorontsov–Chernyshov correspondence in French (items 4) is the most specific archival target named to Stasov; the detailed map is an operational detail for the military geography of the novella.
5. v73_318 — Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, 20 August 1902
Date: 20 августа 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: Великий князь Николай Михайлович
Verbatim RU:
Теперь я занят окончанием давно начатого и всё разрастающегося одного эпизода из кавказской истории 1851, 52 годов. Не можете ли Вы помочь мне, указав, где я мог бы найти переписку Николая I и Чернышева с Воронцовым за эти года, так же как и надписи Николая I на докладах и донесениях, касающихся Кавказа этих годов?
Working EN: “I am now occupied with finishing a long-begun and ever-expanding episode from Caucasian history of 1851–52. Could you help me by indicating where I might find the correspondence of Nicholas I and Chernyshov with Vorontsov for those years, and also Nicholas I’s marginal notations on reports and despatches concerning the Caucasus in those years?”
Significance: Tolstoy describes Hadji Murat in its own terms — “ever-expanding” — and names his two principal archival targets: the Nicholas I / Chernyshov / Vorontsov correspondence, and Nicholas I’s marginal rescripts. First approach to the Grand Duke as a conduit to imperial archive holdings.
6. v73_330 — Bartenev, 11 September 1902
Date: 11 сентября 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: П. И. Бартенев
Verbatim RU:
Мне нужен Николай Павлович 1852 года и его отношения к Воронцову во время его наместничества на Кавказе. Нет ли этого в Архиве Воронцова? У меня есть письма Воронцова к Чернышеву о Хаджи Мурате в русском переводе, а писаны они были по-французски. Где бы их достать в оригинале?
Working EN: “I need Nicholas Pavlovich [Nicholas I] as of 1852 and his relations with Vorontsov during the viceroyalty in the Caucasus. Is there anything about this in the Vorontsov Archive? I have letters of Vorontsov to Chernyshov concerning Hadji Murat in Russian translation — they were written in French. Where might I obtain them in the original?”
Significance: Confirms Tolstoy already has the Vorontsov–Chernyshov HM letters in Russian translation; explicitly seeks French originals; tries Bartenev’s Vorontsov Archive as a second route for the same documents.
7. v73_333 — Stasov, 11 September 1902
Date: 11 сентября 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
Продолжаю заниматься пустяками, Хаджи-Муратом. Надеюсь скоро освободиться. [...] Не можете ли выслать мне X том Актов Кавказской археографической комиссии? Если да, то вышлите поскорее.
Working EN: “I continue to occupy myself with trifles — Hadji Murat. I hope to be free of it soon. [...] Could you send me volume X of the Acts of the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission? If so, please send it as quickly as possible.”
Significance: Self-deprecating bracket around “Хаджи-Муратом” (the dismissive “пустяками”) is the most quoted authorial remark about the work in progress. AKAK vol. X is the most-requested single archival item in the entire correspondence.
8. v73_338 — Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, 12 September 1902
Date: 12 сентября 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: Великий князь Николай Михайлович
Verbatim RU:
Это больше того, что я ожидал, и я очень, очень буду благодарен вам, если вы найдете возможным дать мне на время (короткое) доклады, донесения и резолюции государя, относящиеся к управлению Кавказом со времени назначения Воронцова и до 1852 года, а также и X том «Актов кавказской археографической комиссии».
Working EN: “This is more than I expected, and I shall be very, very grateful if you find it possible to lend me for a short time the reports, despatches and imperial rescripts relating to the administration of the Caucasus from the time of Vorontsov’s appointment until 1852, and also volume X of the ‘Acts of the Caucasian Archaeographic Commission’.”
Significance: Directly requests access to imperial-archive despatches and Nicholas I’s rescripts on Caucasus 1845–52 via the Grand Duke; pairs that request with AKAK X — the two key documentary pillars of the HM source research.
9. v73_415 — Nakashidze, 20 December 1902
Date: 20 декабря 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: И. П. Накашидзе
Verbatim RU:
Обращаюсь теперь к вам с этой просьбой: попросите их или его выписать мне самые характерные резолюции Николая Павловича по самым разнообразным делам, преимущественно от 45 до 55 года, главное же, конца 51-го и начала 52 года. Нет ли его резолюций о Хаджи-Мурате.
Working EN: “I turn to you now with this request: ask them or him to copy out for me the most characteristic rescripts of Nicholas Pavlovich on the most varied affairs, principally from [18]45 to [18]55, and above all from late [18]51 and early [18]52. Are there any of his rescripts concerning Hadji Murat?”
Significance: Dispatches Nakashidze to use Tiflis archive contacts to find Nicholas I’s rescripts specifically on HM; encloses the open letter to the Tiflis archive chief (v73_416). The phrase “Нет ли его резолюций о Хаджи-Мурате” is the most focused archival question about HM in the whole sweep.
10. v73_416 — Chief of the Voenno-istorichesky otdel, Tiflis (V. A. Potto), 20 December 1902
Date: 20 декабря 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: Начальник Военно-исторического отдела Тифлисского архива (В. А. Потто)
Verbatim RU:
Очень благодарю за высылку десятого тома актов, который я в исправности получил. Теперь у меня к вам другая просьба: будьте так добры, разрешите подателю сего письма заниматься в вашем архиве и выписать из дел нужные мне сведения.
Working EN: “I thank you very much for sending volume ten of the Acts, which I have received in good order. I have now another request: please be so kind as to admit the bearer of this letter to work in your archive and to copy from the files the information I need.”
Significance: Confirms AKAK X arrived from the Tiflis military-historical archive; is the open letter of introduction used to authorise a researcher (bearer unspecified — likely to be Nakashidze or one of his Tiflis contacts) to work in the archive.
11. v73_423 — Korganov, 25 December 1902
Date: 25 декабря 1902, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: И. И. Корганов
Verbatim RU:
Буду очень, очень благодарен за всё, что вы сообщите мне, в особенности желал бы знать подробности о внешности лиц, участвовавших в этом событии, как то: вашего батюшки, приставленного к Хаджи-Мурату, пристава и самого Хаджи-Мурата и его нукеров. [...] когда я пишу историческое, я люблю быть до малейших подробностей верным действительности.
Working EN: “I shall be very, very grateful for everything you tell me, and in particular I should like to know the details of the appearance of the persons who took part in this event — your father, who was assigned to Hadji Murat, the police officer, and Hadji Murat himself and his nukers. [...] When I write historical [fiction], I like to be faithful to reality down to the smallest particulars.”
Significance: Tolstoy’s historicist credo stated explicitly; targets the Korganov family as the principal eyewitness source for the chapter depicting HM’s stay under guard. Three concrete questions on dress, weapons, and the day of the escape.
12. v74_046 — Esadze, 19 February 1903
Date: 19 февраля 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: С. С. Эсадзе
Verbatim RU:
Мне желательно иметь только то, что 1) касается Хаджи Мурата и то, кроме всего того, что есть печатного об этом (всё это я знаю) и того, что есть в X томе актов, и 2) распоряжения императора Николая I о Хаджи Мурате и вообще о кавказской войне во время наместничества Воронцова и в особенности 50, 51 и 52 годов.
Working EN: “I wish to have only what (1) concerns Hadji Murat and that beyond everything already printed on the subject (all of which I know) and beyond what is in volume X of the Acts, and (2) the orders of Emperor Nicholas I concerning Hadji Murat and the Caucasian war generally during Vorontsov’s viceroyalty, and in particular for [18]50, [18]51, and [18]52.”
Significance: Two-point brief to Esadze (staff researcher at Tiflis archive): unpublished HM documentation and Nicholas I’s orders. Demonstrates Tolstoy already has AKAK X and all published sources; what he lacks is archival manuscript material.
13. v74_065 — Nakashidze, 7 March 1903
Date: 7 марта 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: И. П. Накашидзе
Verbatim RU:
Вы пишете о Кавказском сборнике, которого вышло 22 тома. Я знаю Сборник сведений о кавказских горцах, издаваемый с соизволения его императорского высочества и т. д... И этого сборника у меня есть 6 первых томов и были из публичной библиотеки еще 2: 7-й, 8-й. То ли это самое? Вероятно, нет. И я напишу Стасову. [...] Для того, чтобы исправить эти неверности, мне нужны ответы на следующие вопросы. Не можете ли вы найти старого служаку, пехотного офицера, служившего в 1852 году, который бы ответил на эти вопросы: 1) Высылались ли из крепости секреты? 2) Если не высылались, то где стояли караульные часовые...? 3) Каким образом принимали часовые приходящих лазутчиков...?
Working EN: “You write about the Kavkazsky sbornik, of which 22 volumes have appeared. I know the Sbornik svedeniy o kavkazskikh gortsakh, published with the permission of H.I.H. and so forth... I have the first 6 volumes of that collection and borrowed vols 7 and 8 from the Public Library. Are they the same thing? Probably not. And I shall write to Stasov. [...] To correct these inaccuracies I need answers to the following questions. Can you find an old soldier, an infantry officer who served in 1852, to answer: 1) Were outpost pickets sent out from the fortress? 2) If not, where did the sentry guards stand...? 3) How did sentries receive incoming scouts...?”
Significance: Key bibliographic disambiguation — Kavkazsky sbornik vs. Sbornik svedeniy o kavkazskikh gortsakh. Simultaneously shows the military-tactics layer of source research: Tolstoy is correcting fictional scenes against infantry-officer testimony on 1852 fortress-outpost procedures.
14. v74_069 — Stasov, 8 March 1903
Date: 8 марта 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
Мне из Тифлиса пишут, что есть XXII тома Кавказского сборника, издаваемого под иждивением его императорского высочества и т. д. Я знаю Сборник сведений о кавказских горцах, и у меня есть VI томов этого сборника, и я брал из Румянцевского музея VII, VIII и, кажется, IX-й. Одно ли то же Кавказский сборник и Сборник сведений о кавказских горцах? Если не одно и то же, то пришлите мне первые 10 томов, если же одно и то же, то пришлите мне последние от IX-го тома.
Working EN: “From Tiflis I am told there are 22 volumes of the Kavkazsky sbornik, published under the auspices of H.I.H. etc. I know the Sbornik svedeniy o kavkazskikh gortsakh, and I have 6 volumes of that collection; I borrowed vols VII, VIII, and I think IX from the Rumyantsev Museum. Are the Kavkazsky sbornik and the Sbornik svedeniy o kavkazskikh gortsakh one and the same? If not — please send the first 10 volumes; if they are the same — please send me the remaining volumes from vol. IX onward.”
Significance: Asks Stasov to resolve the bibliographic puzzle; first explicit request for Kavkazsky sbornik vols I–X from the Public Library if it is a distinct publication. (v74_080 confirms 10 volumes arrived from the library.)
15. v74_078 — Nakashidze, 19 March 1903
Date: 20 марта 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: И. П. Накашидзе
Verbatim RU:
Не знаю, как благодарить Эсадзе, приславшего мне столько выписок, сделанных своею рукой. Я никак не ожидал, что он положит столько труда на это. [...] Записки о ранней деятельности Хаджи Мурата мне не нужно: они есть у меня. Также не нужно и выписок из Кавказского сборника. Он у меня будет.
Working EN: “I do not know how to thank Esadze, who sent me so many extracts copied in his own hand. I never expected him to put so much labour into it. [...] The notes on HM’s early activity I do not need — I have them. Nor do I need further extracts from the Kavkazsky sbornik. I shall have it.”
Significance: Esadze delivered manuscript extracts hand-copied from the Tiflis archive; Tolstoy already possesses the “notes on HM’s early activity” (likely Runovsky’s diary); Kavkazsky sbornik now secured.
16. v74_132 — Nakashidze, 27 April 1903
Date: 27 апреля 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: И. П. Накашидзе
Verbatim RU:
Я и приостановил теперь работу над Хаджи-Муратом, да и вообще эта повесть не стоит того труда, который для него полагают добрые люди.
Working EN: “I have now suspended work on Hadji Murat, and in any case this tale is not worth the trouble that good people expend on it.”
Significance: One of the two main expressions of ambivalence about HM; shows a pause in composition, April 1903. Contrast with the sustained source-gathering activity through 1902–early 1903.
17. v74_147 — Esadze, 6 May 1903
Date: 6 мая 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: С. С. Эсадзе
Verbatim RU:
Получил ваши бумаги, книгу и карты и не знаю, как достаточно благодарить вас за тот огромный труд, который вы делали и делаете для меня. Теперь пришлите мне, пожалуйста, то, что у вас сделано, но дальше, пожалуйста, не работайте, так как имеющихся у меня матерьялов мне вполне достаточно.
Working EN: “I have received your papers, book, and maps and do not know how adequately to thank you for the enormous labour you have done and are doing for me. Please send me now what you have ready, but please do not work further, as the materials I have are fully sufficient.”
Significance: Close of the Esadze commission; confirms Esadze sent papers (archival manuscript extracts), a book, and maps. “Materials fully sufficient” signals that source-gathering is essentially complete by May 1903.
18. v74_175 — Stasov, 3 June 1903
Date: 3 июня 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
«Кавказ и его герои» мне не нужно, а вот мои две просьбы к вам [...] Вторая просьба в том, нет ли книги, содержащей все указы и утверждения законов (работ 2-го Отделения) Николая. Мне нужно эти сведения не за всё царствование, а хотя за один год от половины 51-го до половины 52-го.
Working EN: “‘Kavkaz i ego geroi’ I do not need. But here are my two requests to you [...] The second request: is there a book containing all the decrees and legislative confirmations (work of the 2nd Section) of Nicholas [I]? I need this information not for the entire reign, but for even one year — from mid-[18]51 to mid-[18]52.”
Significance: Tolstoy declines a general Caucasus book; targets the narrowest possible legislative window — exactly 12 months centred on HM’s surrender and death. The request for the 2nd Section (Speransky’s codification office) records shows his interest in the bureaucratic texture of the Nicholas I chapters.
19. v74_310 — Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, 15 November 1903
Date: 15 ноября 1903, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: Великий князь Николай Михайлович
Verbatim RU:
Очень жаль, что кончилась их прекрасная порода. Я видал Михаила Семеновича, знал Simon, который был тоже честный, хороший человек.
Working EN: “It is a great pity that their fine breed has died out. I saw Mikhail Semyonovich [Vorontsov], knew Simon [Vorontsov’s son], who was also an honest, good man.”
Significance: Tolstoy’s personal recollection of M. S. Vorontsov — he had met the viceroy in his Caucasus period. Rare autobiographical trace confirming firsthand memory as a supplementary source alongside the archival research.
20. v75_106 — Stasov, 22 April 1904
Date: 22 апреля 1904, Ясная Поляна
Addressee: В. В. Стасов
Verbatim RU:
Посылаю с благодарностью обратно: Кавказский сборник, Ничше и собрание указов. У меня осталось много книг: Bernhardi, Gerlach, Custine и Русская старина. Желал бы подержать еще первые три, а Русскую Старину на днях вышлю.
Working EN: “I am returning with thanks: the Kavkazsky sbornik, Nietzsche, and the collection of decrees. I have many books still: Bernhardi, Gerlach, Custine, and Russkaya starina. I should like to retain the first three for a while; Russkaya starina I shall send in the next few days.”
Significance: Return of the Kavkazsky sbornik to Stasov marks the formal end of that borrowing. Retaining Bernhardi, Gerlach, and Custine signals ongoing work on the European / Nicholas I context; Russkaya starina used for period atmosphere.
Source materials Tolstoy requested
| Source | Who supplied / route | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Сборник сведений о кавказских горцах (vols I–VI owned; VII–IX from Rumyantsev Museum) | Stasov (Public Library) for later vols | Core Caucasus-peoples reference series; 6 vols owned outright |
| Кавказский сборник (22 vols; Tolstoy received vols I–X from Public Library) | D. F. Kobeko, Director of Imperial Public Library, via Stasov | Distinct from Sbornik svedeniy; 10 vols confirmed received March 1903 |
| Акты Кавказской Археографической Комиссии (AKAK), том X | V. A. Potto, Voenno-istorichesky otdel, Tiflis; also offered by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich; Vejdenbaum mediator | Single most-requested item; contains primary documentation on HM’s surrender and death |
| Переписка Николая I и Чернышёва с Воронцовым (French originals) | Sought via Stasov, Bartenev, Grand Duke NM — originals not obtained; Russian translation already held | Core political-command correspondence on the Caucasus 1845–52 |
| Резолюции Николая I на докладах о Кавказе, 1851–52 (Nicholas I’s marginal rescripts) | Sought via Grand Duke NM, Nakashidze → Tiflis archive contacts (Esadze, Shulgin) | Imperial rescripts specifically including any on HM; partially obtained through Esadze’s hand-copied extracts |
| Биография Воронцова | Stasov (Public Library) | Life of the viceroy as character source |
| Камер-фурьерский / Гоф-фурьерский журнал (court calendar 1852; also 1827–28) | Stasov; Grand Duke NM’s team | Used to track Nicholas I’s daily movements and establish court-scene chronology |
| Записки Полторацкого (memoirs) | Stasov — already in hand by Jan. 1897 | Caucasus-war memoir; one of two first-named sources |
| Записки Зиссермана (memoirs; Russky Arkhiv 1888, 1890 issues) | Bartenev (Russky Arkhiv editor) | Caucasus-war memoir; Bartenev’s own journal |
| Брошюры об Аварском ханстве | Stasov | Geography/ethnography of HM’s homeland |
| Выписки С. С. Эсадзе из тифлисского архива (hand-copied archival extracts + book + maps) | S. S. Esadze, Tiflis military-historical archive, via Nakashidze | Unpublished archival material on HM; physical maps of the Caucasus theatre |
| Записки А. И. Руновского о ранней деятельности Хаджи Мурата | In Tolstoy’s possession by March 1903 | Runovsky was HM’s assigned minder; his diary is primary eyewitness source; not requested in these letters — implies separate acquisition route |
| Сведения И. И. Корганова (eyewitness family testimony) | Ivan Korganov (Tiflis), direct correspondence | HM’s physical appearance, dress, the day of his escape; mother contacted for further details |
| Показания старых кавказских пехотных офицеров (oral/written testimony on 1852 fortress tactics) | Nakashidze sourcing in Tiflis; S. N. Shulgin | Military-procedural accuracy for fortress-outpost scenes |
| Карта подробная Чечни и Дагестана | Stasov (Public Library) | Operational geography for military scenes |
| Memoirs of Gerlach (1827–28) | Stasov | Nicholas I period; retained April 1904 |
| Custine, La Russie en 1839 | Stasov | Court / Nicholas I atmosphere; retained April 1904 |
| Bernhardi (military history) | Stasov | Retained April 1904; Caucasus-war context [uncertain — which Bernhardi] |
| Шильдер, «Николай I» (late-period / Istorichesky vestnik) | Stasov; Kantakuzen (Istorichesky vestnik issues) | Biography of Nicholas I |
| Собрание указов и законов (2nd Section / 2nd Department) для 1851–52 | Stasov (Public Library) | Legislative texture for Nicholas I chapters; returned April 1904 |
| Биография Строганова / предисловия к томам Николая Михайловича | Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich (his own volumes) | Used for characterisation of Stroganov and the S. R. Vorontsov family portrait |