Publishing and Book Trade of the Dostoevskys

Abstract

The article examines the publishing business and book trade of F. M. and A. G. Dostoevsky. Anna Grigoryevna has begun to actively participate in her husband’s creative process as a stenographer and copyist since 1866, and in the publishing business — since 1873. The publishing business of the Dostoevsky family is considered in the article against the background of the publishing process of the 19th century, which consisted of the author’s prepress work on the text together with the editor, publisher, typographer, printing factor, metranpage, proofreader, censor. Anna Grigorievna worked on the proofs along with Dostoevsky. After the publication of the book or a magazine issue, the book trade began, which described in the memoirs of A. G. Dostoevskaya, her letters and notebooks, which contained systematic records related to the distribution of “A Writer’s Diary” and the sale of books. The names of publishers, booksellers and subscribers are regularly mentioned in F. M. Dostoevsky’s notebook of 1875–1876, as well as in A. G. Dostoevskaya’s notebooks of 1875–1884. However, there is no proper commentary in the scientific literature on many names, or, if present, it is not entirely accurate. The author of the article, in particular, found out which of the five Pechatkin brothers is mentioned in the notebooks of F. M. Dostoevsky and his wife, what are the booksellers from Kazan Dubrovina famous for, who distributed “A Writer’s Diary”, who is S. I. Litov and what led to the popularity of his bookstore in Kiev. This material will allow us to better imagine how publishing and book trade developed not only for Dostoevskys in particular, but also in the 19th century as a whole.