The Role of the Textological Passport in the Preparation of the Text of the Novel “Anna Karenina” for the Academic Complete Works of L.N. Tolstoy in 100 Volumes

About the author:

Marina A. Mozharova, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 a, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9925-5585

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Abstract:

The article deals with the stages of preparation of the text of the novel “Anna Karenina” for publication in academic Complete works of L.N. Tolstoy in 100 vols. In vol. 11 published in 2020 there are parts 1–4 of the novel. At the moment at A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences vol. 12 is under work. It will contain parts 5–8 of the novel. According to the requirements to the academic edition the new release will be accompanied with the detailed textual comments which include the list of corrections in the text of the main source based on the autographs, manuscripts and the printed edition of 1878. These necessary corrections in the published text are impossible without a textological passport which is an important by-law. Textological passport contains the description of all previous editions of the novel where there was the issue of criticizing the text, that is the main source analysis from the point of view of its authenticity. Texological passport presents discovered textual discrepancies and the result of their censure. The comparison of the textual discrepancies with handwritten copies helps textual critic eliminate inaccuracies in the main source of the text. These corrections are necessary to reconstruct the text which is in line with the author’s last will. In case of “Anna Karenina” this is the corrected by Tolstoy printed text of parts 1–7 published in the magazine “Russkij Vestnik” (1875–1877) and a separate edition of the eighth part (1877).