Correspondence of L. N. Tolstoy and Yu. F. Samarin: New Contexts and Problems of Relations between Two Contemporaries

Abstract

Purpose. The purpose of this article is an analytical study of the correspondence between Tolstoy and Samarin, the introduction into scientific circulation of three letters that are stored in the Department of Manuscripts of the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy in Moscow and have not been published until that time. Results. The problem of creative and personal connections between Tolstoy and Samarin, their interaction and especially correspondence is comprehended in many ways. The authors of this article present a detailed scientific commentary on the letters of Tolstoy and Samarin, and explain many realities and facts that have not been given attention in Tolstoy studies. The dating of three Samarin's letters introduced into scientific circulation with analytical explanations of their place and role in the communication of correspondents has been carried out. The work uses biographical, comparative, historical and typological methods, hermeneutic and ontological methods. Conclusion. Despite the fact that Tolstoy could not find a best friend in Samarin, as he really wanted in the early 1860s, it was thanks to communication with him that he deeply comprehended the ambiguity and complexity of a number of Slavophiles’ beliefs in their application to real life.