Gogol and Fet: “Yellow Notebook” and the Anniversary of the Poet’s Literary Career (1889)
Publication Title:
Gogol and Fet: “Yellow Notebook” and the Anniversary of the Poet’s Literary Career (1889)
Abstract:
This paper examines the 50th anniversary of Afanasy Fet’s literary career (1889). The study reconstructs the context of Fet’s decision to date his anniversary from his acquaintance with Gogol, rather than from the publication of his first collection, “Lyrical Pantheon” (1840). The analysis considers several key circumstances: Fet’s intensive work on his memoirs; his engagement with Gogol’s “Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends”; and a comparison with the anniversaries of his contemporaries, Yakov Polonsky and Apollon Maykov. The newly found correspondence of Grigoriy Danilevsky and Alexey Suvorin makes it possible to put the “yellow notebook” story into wider perspective. Other materials used in the study help to clarify the chronology of Fet’s memoirs “Early Years of my Life” (1893). Furthermore, the paper argues that several chapters of this memoir were conceived or written long before the anniversary.
References:
(Sources)
Collected Works
- Fet, A.A. Sochineniya i pis'ma v 20 t., t. 3 [Collected Writings and Letters in 20 vols., vol. 3]. Saint-Petersburg: Folio-Press, 2006. 518 p.
2. Fet, A.A. Predislovie (k tret'emu vypusku «Vechernikh ogney») [Preface (to the third issue of “Evening Lights”)], in Fet, A.A. Sochineniya i pis'ma v 20 t., t. 5, kn. 1 [Collected Writings and Letters in 20 vols., vol. 5, book 1]. Moscow; Saint-Petersburg: Al'yans-Arkheo, 2014. 695 p.
3. Fet, A. Stikhotvoreniya. Proza. Pis'ma [Selected Poems, Prose & Letters]. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossiya, 1988. 464 p.
4. Gladkova, L.V., Nikiforova, T.G., Fateev, V.A., Shvedov, V.Yu. Perepiska L.N. Tolstogo i N.N. Strakhova (1870–1896) v 2 t., t. 2, kn. 1 [The correspondence of L. Tolstoy and N. Strakhov (1870–1896) in 2 vols., vol. 2, book 1]. Saint-Petersburg: Pushkinskiy Dom, 2023. 667 p.
5. Gogol', N.V. Vybrannye mesta iz perepiski s druz'yami [Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends], in Gogol', N.V. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy v 14 t., t. 8 [Complete Writings in 14 vols., vol. 8]. Moscow; Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo AN SSSR, 1952. 815 p.
Individual Works
6. Fet, A. Iz moikh vospominaniy [Fragments from “My reminiscences”], in Russkiy vestnik, 1888, vol. 197, no. 8, pp. 3–56.
7. Fet, A. Moi vospominaniya. 1848–1889 v 2 ch., ch. 1 [My reminiscences. 1848–1889 in 2 part, part 2]. Moscow: Tipografiya A.I. Mamontova i Kº, 1890. 452 p.
8. Fet, A. Rannie gody moey zhizni [Early Years of my Life]. Moscow: Tipografiya A.I. Mamontova, 1893. 548+VI p.
9. Gerbel', N.V. (ed.). Russkie poety v biografiyakh i obraztsakh [Russian Poets: Biographical Anthology]. Saint-Petersburg, 1873. 656+VIII p.
10. [Danilevskiy, G.P.] A.A. Fet–Shenshin (Po povodu pyatidesyatiletiya ego literaturnoy deyatel'nosti) [A. Fet-Shenshin: The 50th anniversary of his literary career], in Pravitel'stvennyy vestnik, 1889, 26 Jan., no. 21, pp. 2–3.
11. [Milyukov, A.P.] Sochineniya i perevody A. Feta [Writings and Translations by A. Fet], in Pravitel'stvennyy vestnik, 1886, 19 Feb., no. 41, p. 2; 20 Feb., no. 42, p. 2.
12. [S. a.] A.A. Fet, in Novoe vremya, 1889, 21 Jan., no. 4633, p. 3.
13. [S. a.] A.A. Fet (Po povodu pyatidesyatiletiya ego literaturnoy deyatel'nosti) [A. Fet: The 50th anniversary of his literary career], in Novosti dnya, 1889, 28 Jan., no. 1999, p. 2.
14. Strakhov, N. Yubiley poezii Feta [The anniversary of Fet’s poetry], in Novoe vremya, 1889, 28 Jan., no. 4640, p. 2.
15. Z. A.A. Fet. 1839–1889, in Moskovskie vedomosti, 1889, 28 Jan., no. 28, p. 3.
(Articles from Scientific Journals)
16. Dinesman, T.G., Trepalina, M.I. Perepiska s Ya.P. Polonskim. 1846–1892 [The correspondence of A. Fet and Ya.P. Polonsky. 1846–1892], in Literaturnoe nasledstvo, 2008, vol. 103, book 1, pp. 541–986.
17. Generalova, N.P. Perepiska s N.N. Strakhovym (1877–1892) [The correspondence of A. Fet and N.N. Strakhov], in Literaturnoe nasledstvo, 2011, vol. 103, book 2, pp. 233–547.
18. Trepalina, M.I, Blagovolina, Yu.P. Perepiska s velikim knyazem Konstantinom Konstantinovichem (K.R.) 1886–1892 [The correspondence of A. Fet and Great Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich (K.R.)], in Literaturnoe nasledstvo, 2011, vol. 103, book 2, pp. 551–978.
(Articles from Proceedings and Collections of Research Papers)
19. Generalova, N.P. «…Ya tak davno privyk k vashim druzheskim pis'mam…» (34 pis'ma S.V. Engel'gardt k A.A. Fetu) [“…I have long since become habituated to your intimate letters…” (The correspondence of S.V. Engelgardt and A.A. Fet in 34 letters)], in A.A. Fet: Problemy izucheniya zhizni i tvorchestva [A. Fet: A Study on his Life and Writings]. Kursk: KGPU, 1994, pp. 174–234.
20. Koshelev, V.A., Petrova, G.V. O poeticheskikh sbornikakh Feta «Vechernie ogni» [Reflections on Fet’s “Evening Lights”], in Fet, A.A. Sochineniya i pis'ma v 20 t., t. 5, kn. 1 [Collected Writings and Letters in 20 vols., vol. 5, book 1]. Moscow; Saint-Petersburg: Al'yans-Arkheo, 2014, pp. 264–286.
21. Lukina, V.A. O pervom perevode Feta [Fet and his first translation from the German], in Materialy Mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii «Stikhi imeyut svoi prava…» [International Conference in memoriam of A. Fet]. Saint-Petersburg: Rostok, 2020, pp. 75–79.
(Monographs)
22. Blok, G. Rozhdenie poeta: Povest' o molodosti Feta. Po neopublikovannym materialam [The Birth of a Poet. A. Fet in his childhood: A Study based on archival materials]. Leningrad: Vremya, 1924. 112 p.
23. Cheremisinova, L.I. Proza A.A. Feta [A. Fet as a Prose Writer]. Saratov: Izdatel'stvo Saratovskogo universiteta, 2008. 376 p.
24. Makeev, M.S. Afanasiy Fet [The biography of Afanasij Fet]. Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya, 2020. 443 p.
25. Sukhikh, I.N. Shenshin i Fet: zhizn' i stikhi [Shenshin and Fet: Life and Poems]. Saint-Petersburg: SPbGU, 2009. 51 p.
26. Vinogradov, I.A. Letopis' zhizni i tvorchestva N.V. Gogolya v 7 t., t. 3 [N. Gogol’s Life and Works, in 7 vols., vol. 3]. Moscow: IMLI RAN, 2017. 672 p.
(Electronic Resources)
27. Pil'd, L. Table-talk Polonskogo i yubiley Feta [Polonsky’s table-talk and the anniversary of Fet’s literary career], in Stat'i na sluchay: sbornik k 50-letiyu R.G. Leybova [Occasional Papers: A Festschrift for R.G. Leybov]. Tartu: OGI, 2013. Available at: https://www.ruthenia.ru/leibov_50/Pild.pdf [Date of access: 1.09.2025].
Key words:
anniversary of literary career as a historical phenomenon, Afanasiy Fet’s memoirs, origin of A. Fet’s “Early Years of my Life”, biography of A. Fet, Gogol and Fet
The DOI index:
10.17588/2076-9210.2025.4.092-107
Publication file:
