Russian literature in the European context on the pages of K.A. Gubastov letters to K.N. Leontiev

Author: korolevaNV / Date: 22-03-2026 /
Publication Title: 
Russian literature in the European context on the pages of K.A. Gubastov letters to K.N. Leontiev
Publication author(s): 
Olga Leonidovna Fetisenko
Abstract: 

The article is written on the basis of a vast epistolary complex: 110 letters from the diplomat, historian and genealogist Konstantin Gubastov (1845–1919) to his close friend, the writer and philosopher, who at the time of the beginning of their communication was also a diplomat – Konstantin Leontiev (1831–1891). This correspondence has great historical value, but is also interesting in a historical-literary sense, since it discusses not only the works of Leontiev (his novels and articles), but also the works of I.S. Turgenev (the novel “Virgin soil”) and L.N. Tolstoy (“The Kreutzer Sonata” and philosophical treatises). Turning to such topics, Gubastov touches upon the issue of the reception of Russian literature in the West, refers to his conversation with Viennese booksellers and notes the emergence of new translations. The author of the letters supports his own judgments with the thoughts of French critics (E. Shuré, P. Janet and others) about contemporary trends in literature and philosophy, and  the parallels that he was able to discover provide an interesting insight into the work of Russian writers. Nowadays, Gubastov is little known, and this required devoting a significant part of the article to an exposition of his biography, traced against the background of the history of his friendship with Leontiev.

 

References: 

(Sources)

Collected Works

1. Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t., t. 11, kn. 1 [Complete works and letters in 12 vols., vol. 11, book 1]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2018. 856 p.

2. Leont′ev, K.N. Pis′ma 1883–1887 gg. [Letters of 1883–1887], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t., t. 12, kn. 1 [Complete works and letters in 12 vols., vol. 12, book 1]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2020. 768 p.

3. Leont′ev, K.N.  Pis′ma 1888–1890 gg. [Letters of 1888–1890], in Leont′ev, K.N. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 12 t., t. 12, kn. 2 [Complete works and letters in 12 vols., vol. 12, book 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Vladimir Dal′, 2020. 990 p.

4. Turgenev, I.S. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem v 30 t. [Complete works and letters in 30 vols.], in Sochineniya v 12 t., t. 9 [Works in 12 vols., vol. 9]. Moscow: Nauka, 1982. 578 p.

Individual Works

5. Gubastov, K.A. Genealogicheskie svedeniya o russkikh dvoryanskikh rodakh, proisshedshikh ot vnebrachnykh soyuzov [Genealogical information about Russian noble families that originated from extramarital relations]. Saint-Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2003. 196 p.

6. Gubastov, K.A. Pis’ma K.N. Leont′evu. 1867–1874 gg. [Letters to K.N. Leontiev. 1867–1874], in State Museum of the history of Russian literature. Collection 196, inventory 1, document 109.

7. Gubastov, K.A. Pis’ma K.N. Leont′evu. 1874–1877 gg. [Letters to K.N. Leontiev 1874–1877], in State Museum of the history of Russian literature. Collection 196, inventory 1, document 110.

8. Gubastov, K.A. Pis’ma K.N. Leont′evu. 1887–1891 gg. [Letters to K.N. Leontiev], in State Museum of the history of Russian literature. Collection 196, inventory 1, document 112.

9. Gubastov, K.A. Pismo A.A. Aleksandrovu, 15 marta 1894 g. [Letter to A.A. Aleksandrov. March 15, 1894], in Russian state archive of the art and literature. Collection 290, inventory 1, document 120.

10. Gubastov, K.A. Vospominaniya [Memoires], in Institute of Russian literature (Pushkinsky Dom). Collection 212, document 17.

11. Nikol′skiy, B.V. Dnevnik v 2 t., t. 2: 1904–1918 [Diary in 2 vols., vol. 2]. Saint-Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 2015. 652 p.

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(Articles from Scientific Journals)

13. Fetisenko, O.L. K istorii sbornika «Pamyati Konstantina Nikolaevicha Leont′eva» (1911): nesostoyavshiesya avtory [On the history of the collection “In memory of K.N. Leontiev” (1911): failed authors], in Dva veka russkoy klassiki, 2024, no. 1, pp. 194–209.

14. Fetisenko, O.L. «Konstantinopol′skiy maskaralyk» 1876–1877 godov v pis′makh i vospominaniyakh K.A. Gubastova [“Constantinople Maskaralyk” in the letters and memoires by K.A. Gubastov], in Tetradi po konservatizmu, 2020, no. 3, pp. 444–459.

15. Fetisenko, O.L. «Nuzhno tol′ko vyzhdat′ vremya»: K.N. Leont′ev i E.-M. de Vogyue [“We need to let the time take its course”: K.N. Leontiev and E.-M. de Vogüé], in Russkaya literatura, 2021, no. 2, pp. 87–92.

16. Fetisenko, O.L. Ol′ga Alekseevna Novikova kak sobesednitsa I.S. Aksakova i K.N. Leont′eva [Olga Alekseevna Novikova as an interlocutor of I.S. Aksakov and K.N. Leontiev], in Filosofskiy poliog, 2023, no. 1, pp. 106–117.

17. Janet, P. Le Testament d’un philosophie: M. Vacherot et le nouveau spiritualisme, in Revue des deux Mondes, 1885, 1 Juin, pp. 550–583.

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19. [Koni, A.F. (ed.)] Iz portfelya starogo zhurnalista. Pis’ma I.I. Lazhechnikova k F.A. Koni [From the portfolio of the old journalist. Letters from I.I. Lazhechnikov to F.A. Koni], in Russkiy arkhiv, 1912, book 9, pp. 141–151.

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22. Medovarov, M.V. Konstantin Leont′ev i ego nasledie v zhurnale «Russkoe obozrenie» [Konstantin Leontiev and his heritage in the journal “Russian Review”], in Russko-Vizantiyskiy vestnik, 2022, no. 4(11), pp. 129–141.

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(Proceeding and Collections Researcher Papers)

27. Bartenev, P. I. Vospominaniya [Memoires], in Rossiyskiy arkhiv. Al′manakh [Russian archive. Almanac]. Moscow: Studiya TRITE; Rossiyskiy Arkhiv, 1994, pp. 47–105.

28. Fetisenko, O.L. Epizody iz zhizni konsula (K.N. Leont′ev i M.A. Khitrovo) [Episodes from the consul’s life (K.N. Leontiev and M.A. Khitrovo)], in Ezhegodnik Rukopisnogo otdela Pushkinskogo Doma na 2013 god [Yearbook of the Manuscript Department of Pushkin House for 2013]. Saint-Petersburg: Dmitry Bulanin, 2014, pp. 97–146.

29. [Fetisenko, O.L. (ed.)] Pis’ma K.A. Gubastova k B.V. Nikol′skomu (1898, 1908–1911) [Letters from K.A. Gubastov to B.V. Nikolsky], in Khristianstvo i russkaya literatura [Christianity and Russian Literature]. Saint-Petersburg: Nauka, 2012, vol. 7, pp. 444–459.

30. Gubastov, K.A. Iz lichnych vospominaniy o K.N. Leont′eve [From personal memoires about K.N. Leontiev], in Pamyati Konstantina Nikolaevicha Leont′eva. Literaturnyy sbornik [In memory of K.N. Leontiev. Literary collection]. Saint-Petersburg: Tipografiya «Sirius», 1911, pp. 185–234.

31. Krasyukov, R.G. Konstantin Arkad′yevich Gubastov, in Sbornik statey i materialov «Iz istorii Russkogo genealogicheskogo obshchestva» [Collection of Articles and Materials “From the History of Russian Genealogical Society”]. Saint-Petersburg: VIRD, 2001, pp. 74–77.

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(Monographs)

33. Fetisenko, O.L. «Geptastilisty»: Konstantin Leont′ev, ego sobesedniki i ucheniki [“Heptastylists”: Konstantin Leontiev, his interlocutors and disciples]. Saint-Petersburg: Izdatel′stvo «Pushkinskiy Dom», 2012. 784 p.

34. Zhukov, K.A. Vostochnyy vopros v istoriosofskoy kontseptsii K.N. Leont′eva [The Eastern question in the historiosophical concept of K.N. Leontiev]. Saint-Petersburg: Aleteyya, 2006. 227 p.

 

Key words: 
epistolary, Russian literature, Western European philosophy, reception, confessional nature of the epistolary genre
2026. Issue 1 (89)
The DOI index: 
10.17588/2076-9210.2026.1.129-150
Publication file: