To the history of the newspaper “Den’”: unknown letters from I.S. Aksakov to N.P. Ignatiev (1863)

Abstract

A short article serves as an introduction to the publication of unknown archival documents, which add vivid details to the ideas about I.S. Aksakov as an editor and publisher of Slavophile newspapers, established in historical science. The choice of texts for publication was due to two reasons: the coincidence of the 200th anniversary of Aksakov and the 160th anniversary of the Polish riot (1863–1864), as well as the fact that the published epistolary documents are addressed to a historical figure, Aksakov’s being acquainted with to much more late time – the end of the 1870s. Emphasizing the research interest in two topics (the history of Slavophil periodicals and the reflection of the Polish question in it), the author highlights the significance of 1863 in the biography of Aksakov and in the existence of his newspaper Den’. The article gives a brief overview of the content of the surviving 13 letters to N.P. Ignatiev (1832–1908) and makes the necessary clarifications on the subject of the letters of 1863 (Polish question, public life, the fight against censorship). In the appendix to the article, three letters from Aksakov to Ignatiev were published for the first time.