Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) — publicist

The article deals with the work of Metropolitan of Moscow Platon II (worldly surname — Levshin) (1737–1812), who became famous not only as an outstanding preacher of the second half of the 18th century, but also as a historical writer. The well-known facts of his life and the creative history of works receive a new sound in the context of a spiritual biography; first of all — a strong connection to the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius and a deep understanding of the spiritual experience of venerable Sergius of Radonezh. A comparative analysis of the text “On the Road to Schism” (1767) and “Brief History of the Russian Church” (1805) was undertaken, illustrating the path of spiritual growth. The author is presented not just as a widely educated person, but as a hierarch, vigilantly expanding his spiritual horizon. Changes in genre priorities and lexical and stylistic features, adherence to certain literary traditions, the dominance of a national idea, proximity to Church Slavonic sources and ancient Russian literary tradition are traced. One of the key roles of the spiritual heritage of Metropolitan Platon II in the historical and literary process of the second half of the 18th century is confirmed.

Additions to the attribution of archival documents of the Manuscripts Department of the Russian State Library

The issue of significance of attribution for establishing the history of the creation of handwritten documents is discussed in the article using the examples of a copy of the working note of Saint Theophan the Recluse «Reservations in the book “Orthodox Worshipers in Jerusalem” » (1858) from the archive of the Russian Saint Panteleimon Monastery; made by Andrey Murav’yov as a translation of the Greek letter of Archimandrite Joasaph (1851), rector of the Holy Lavra of Saint Sabbas in Palestine; letters from nun Leonida (worldly Yelizaveta Obukhova), the female treasurer of convent of Saints Boris and Gleb in the hamlet of Anosino, to Archbishop Leonid (worldly Lev Krasnopevkov) and to his elder sister Nun Leonida (worldly Yekaterina Ushakova); and also letters to Archbishop Leonid from the two clerics both named Nafanail — Archimandrite Nafanail (worldly Gavriil Nektarov) and Archbishop Nafanail (worldly Nikolay Savchenko). Amendments, clarifications and important additions are made to the existing attribution of these documents based on the results of the investigations undertaken. Various methods of attribution — an analysis of the content of the source, of its culturally historical features, stylistic features, references to historical events, to the realities of life, to famous people — are demonstrated. The close association of attribution with the dating of the archive document, which in many cases helps to establish both the author and the addressee of the source, is revealed. The practical demand for attribution results is convincingly reasoned.

Theophan Prokopovich’s treatise “About reviling of decrees of Peter the Great” (1734): towards the history of disputes about the destiny of monasticism in Russia in the 18th century

This article analyzes for the first time the full text of objection of Theophan Prokopovich (1681–1736) to the work of Markell Radyshevskiy (†1742) on monasticism ([Objection to The announcement of monasticism], 1730), and explains the circumstances and motives for its creation. In his polemical treatise of 1734, Theophan Prokopovich polemicises with the most important provisions of Markell Radyshevskiy’s work, defending the views of Peter’s companions on monasticism and the Church. In his rebuttal, Theophan Prokopovich stands as a staunch supporter of Peter I and his Church reform, a supporter of unlimited autocratic power and unconditional subordination of the Church to the head of state. He polemicises with important arguments of Markell Radyshevskiy’s work, defending all the main provisions of Peter’s 1724 decree on monasticism. The first full publication of Theophan Prokopovich’s objection will give a clear idea of the nature of the ideological and religious disputes of Peter’s time, the essence and intensity of the controversy between Church reformers and conservatives in the era of formation of the Russian state in the 18th century.

Information on the study of ancient Slavic monuments of writing in the mid-19th century in the correspondence of Spiridon Palauzov and Aleksey Viktorov

Letters of 1869–1872 of the famous figure of the Bulgarian Renaissance Spiridon Nikolayevich Palauzov to the outstanding researcher and collector of manuscript books Aleksey Yegorovich Viktorov, stored in the Russian State Library’s manuscripts department, are published in full for the first time. The value of these epistolary documents for Russian and Slavic literature of the 19th century lies in the fact that they contain little-known information on the history of research, attribution and publication of handwritten monuments such as “The Life and Praise of Saint Philothei of Athens”, “The Commendation of Saint Euthymius of Tarnovo” by Gregory Tsamblak, the Service of Holy Venerable Theodosius of Tarnovo, and the writings of Saint Clement of Ohrid and Tsar Simeon I the Great, the Great Menaion Reader was compiled in the 1530s–1540s under the supervision of Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow, etc. An introductory article gives a brief description of the letters. The text of the epistolary documents is provided with historical, literary and real commentary.

National idea and call for mutual understanding: later creative work of Vladimir Odoyevsky in disputes between Russia and the West

The work is devoted to two subjects of letters of Vladimir Odoyevsky, which globally can be seen as an attempt by the writer to build a dialogue with the Europeans, to encourage them to understand Russia and the Russians, to bridge the gap in the cultural interaction of the countries. The author of the article refers to the pamphlet “About Russian stoves” in the correspondence of Vladimir Odoyevsky with the aunt of Emperor Alexander II, notes Vladimir Odoyevsky’s increased attention to the theme of stove heating and, in general, to the image of the furnace, which repeatedly appears in his artistic work. The work demonstrates the writer’s return to the plot about the interaction of the Russian and the German peoples and the whimsically beaten uptake of the experience of one another in the furnace business. Of great interest is Vladimir Odoyevsky’s controversy with Jean Baptiste Alphonse Karr, which was described in detail in the article and unfolded on the pages of the journal “L’Avenir de Nice”. An analytical study of an acute journalistic dispute allows the author of the article to highlight the central problem of misunderstanding by foreigners of Russia, which permeates not only the artistic and journalistic works of Vladimir Odoyevsky, but also his correspondence with the Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, who was constantly between Petersburg and Weimar, and who knew firsthand about the difficulties of Russian interaction and Western Europe.

Russian hierarches in their correspondence: letters to Voronezh and Zadonsk Archbishop Ignatiy (Semyonov) (1842–1849)

The first published letters addressing the archbishop of Voronezh and Zadonsk Ignatiy (worldly name — Matvey Semyonov) from his contemporaries date back to 1842–1849 — the period of ministry of the bishop in the Don and Voronezh dioceses. In addition to information about various events, letters contain information about the relations between hierarchs, supported through the years by the relations of the teacher and the student, the godfather and the professed, fellow students at the academy or seminary. The correspondents of Archbishop Ignatius include Metropolitan Filaret (worldly name — Fyodor Amfiteatrov) and Philaret (worldly name — Vasily Drozdov) (both participated in the consecration of Archimandrite Ignatius to Bishop of Staraya Russa); Archbishop Saint Antoniy (worldly name — Avraamiy Smirnitskiy); Archbishop Grigoriy (worldly name — Georgiy Postnikov), who later became Metropolitan of Petersburg; as well as the former student of Ignatius at St. Petersburg Theological Academy — Arseniy (worldly name — Fyodor Moskvin), who later became Metropolitan of Kiev; Archbishop Iakov (worldly name — Iosif Vecherkov), etc. The introductory article to the published letters contains detailed biographical information compiled from archival and rare sources. The era, the place and the role of Eminent Ignatiy in church history arecharacterised in it, the circumstances accompanying the letters are clarified. The published epistolary documents are equipped with biographical references about the correspondents of Archbishop Ignatiy and with an extensive scientific commentary.

Trinity list of memories schemamonk Selevkiy (Trofimov) about his travels in the orthodox east

“The story of Mount Athos schemamonk Selevkiy of himself, how he, having left the Balkan Mountains, wandered around Russia, Palestine, Athos”, written in the mid-19th century, is published for the first time on the Trinity list from the collections of the Russian State Library. The introductory article describes the distinctive features of this list in comparison with that of Mount Athos, describes the main stages in the life of the schemamonk Selevkiy (secular name — Stepan Trofimov). The memoirist sets out in detail the story of his journey to God, wandering in the holy places of Russia, Turkey, Palestine and Mount Athos. His observation was reflected in descriptions of temples, monasteries, numerous shrines, in sketches of meetings with different people; these include vivid and colourful images of representatives of different social strata of society: nobles, merchants, military men, simple monks and famous confessors, pilgrims and even robbers who would try to rob him and ruin his life. When describing the Mount Athos period of his life, Father Selevkiy opens the veil of the sacred life of the ascetics of the Holy Mountain, their spiritual exploits, mystical experience, traditions and customs of Mount Athos. The “Story” of the Schemamonk Selevkiy is of particular historical and cultural value, since much of what he had seen was not preserved to this day.

From comments to Afanasy Fet’s “My Early Years”

The paper analyses the text of Afanasy Fet’s memoirs about the early years of his life. The author of the article identifies people who had a huge influence on the poet in childhood (mother, uncle), discusses the role of a manuscript of poetic notebook in his formation; from that book Afanasy Fet’s acquaintance with Alexander Pushkin’s works began. The story of the Borisovs, which became akin family to Afanasy Fet, is told; after the death of his sister and her husband, it took care of his nephew. Turning to the word “Caesaria” mentioned by the old servant of Afanasy Fet’s own, the author of the article presents a fascinating investigation and draws a conclusion about the place of service of Afanasy Fet’s father and uncle — they served in East Prussia. Studying the details of the poet’s memoirs, the author demonstrates the attitude of Afanasy Fet and his father to the literacy of the people, shows the role of priests in the process of training peasants. Considering in the descriptions of Afanasy Fet’s landlord life the “bill by tags” as a peculiar form of fixing property relations, the author of the article draws interesting parallels of facts from folkish life noted by the poet.

Properties and signs of the epic in three novels by Leo Tolstoy

The author of the article raises the question of the genetic relationship of the Russian novel of the second half of the 19th century with the epic, notes that it is precisely on the scale of the epic worldview that the global goal was set for themselves by Russian writers, when arguing about the need for universal coverage and understanding of life, of the insight of Divine laws. The article proves that one of the features of the epic novel included the turn to the popular worldview, but at the same time Russian writers were able to create an artistic world in which the importance of the personality is not diminished. The epic novel “War and Peace” opened up the opportunity for many of Leo Tolstoy’s contemporaries to create an epic novel based on the material of new and recent Russian history and contemporary life. The author analyses the features present in “War and Peace” and Leo Tolstoy’s epic novels “Anna Karenina” and “Resurrection” — the ratio of the personal and the common, the special integrity and totality of the artistic world, the objectivity of the narrative, the wide scope of events, the precedent picture of the world, etc. All the deeds of the heroes in the epic novel are evaluated not only from the position of a specific time, but from the position of eternity, from the point of view of religious consciousness.

About publications of Aleksey Khomyakov’s works and problems for the future: unknown, unpublished, uncollected

The article on the material of unpublished archival documents (mainly epistolary) highlights the unknown details of the preparation of the Complete Works of Aleksey Khomyakov, which survived from 1861 to 1907. There are five editions; their differences from each other are investigated. An annotated bibliographic review of the best editions of Aleksey Khomyakov, published in the Russian Diaspora and in the USSR, as well as in Russia over the past 30 years, is given. In anticipation of the release of the modern, scientifically verified Complete Works of the writer in 10 volumes, prepared at the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the guidance of Boris Yegorov, the most significant achievements of the research group are described, especially about the finds in the archives and periodicals of unknown works of Aleksey Khomyakov and the publication of his creative manuscripts. For some of them (“Song of the Cossack”, “Experience in Improving Winter Roads by Rolling”, etc.), updated dates are given. A number of texts (“Genius”, “The Sexton”) were first attributed to Aleksey Khomyakov according to stylistic and thematic features, as well as memoirs. The in-neat autographs, fragments of the poems “Winter Anthem” and “The Sexton” are published for the first time, and the full text of Aleksey Khomyakov’s ballad “The Prisoner” (the early 1820s) is presented in the appendix to the article.