«Художественные фуги» и «боевые рапсодии» 22-летней переписки (к выходу в свет переписки В. В. Розанова и П. П. Перцова)

Abstract

This article is about the two-volume scholarly edition of the complete correspondence (499 letters) between Vasily V. Rozanov, a popular if controversial essayist and philosopher, and Pyotr P. Pertsov, a compiler, editor, and publisher of Rozanov’s four early books, which paved the road to Rozanov’s fame. The edition was prepared by Yelena I. Goncharova and Olga L. Fetisenko of the Institute of Russian Literature (St. Petersburg) and published by the Pushkin House Publishers in the series Russian Conversations in 2023. This publication of Rozanov’s largest correspondence is an important contribution to the research of his epistolary heritage and of the entire Russian culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Pertsov was not a famous person but a widely educated and independent critic, journalist, publisher, and thinker, who had his own opinion on all contemporary issues. His letters provide a “counterpoint” addition and often a friendly critical “correction” to the ideas of Rozanov, whose letters demonstrate all the brilliance of his boundless imagination and his daring, sometimes even shocking literary passages. The letters cover all the major phases of the creative paths of the two correspondents. This article also sheds light on various aspects of the literary life and ideological issues associated with the two Russian revolutions and demonstrates how these two political events affected the views of the corresponding writers. Although parts of these numerous letters have already appeared in different publications, this work is the first complete and thoroughly annotated edition that presents the epistolary legacies of Rozanov and Pertsov both within the context of the correspondents’ entire creative work and of the literary and philosophical thought of the Russian Silver Age.