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Abstract:

This issue of the Literary Heritage Library publishes for the first time the correspondence 1928–1939 between one of the first Soviet researchers of Russian Symbolism, D. Y. Maksimov (1904–1987), and a prominent and writer of that era, P. P. Pertsov (1868– 1947). In the 157 surviving letters, the correspondents discuss the history of Russian literature at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, primarily in the interview genre: Maksimov asks — Pertsov answers. The main characters in the correspondence are A. Blok and V. Bryusov, Z. Gippius and D. Merezhkovsky; considerable attention is paid to the history of the “Novy Put” magazine, the Religious and Philosophical Meetings and the attitude of Symbolist figures to the Russian Revolution. The correspondence also touches upon issues of contemporary Soviet everyday life and the cultural situation, including repressive state policy (during the period of the correspondence, Maksimov was a victim of political repression); correspondents try to participate in scientific life and, as far as possible, bypass censorship obstacles. The Appendices also publish unpublished texts by Maksimov and Pertsov: Maksimov's summary “Towards the Construction of a Scientific History of Journalism” and Pertsov’s translation of H. de Balzac’s story “Estate ‘Grenadier’”, completed by Pertsov at the request of the publishing house “Academia”.

Keywords: D. Y. Maksimov. P. P. Pertsov, V. Y. Bryusov, H. de Balzac, “Novy Put”.