introd. by; comp., comm., index of names:

We are Grateful to the Russian Science Foundation for their Support of Project no. 23-28-00218. Results Achieved in this Project are Reflected in the Introductory Article of the Current Work.

Abstract:

The first Russian translation of J.P. Eckermann’s famous book „Gespräche mit Goethe in den letzten Jahren seines Lebens“, authored by D.V. Averkiev (1836–1905), is reproduced in the entirety of its 1891 edition by A.S. Suvorin. Although the translation had been made from an intermediate text by E. Delerot and inherited many of its drawbacks, it achieved a unique status in Russian literature of the late 19th and early 20th century. It featured in the home libraries of N.S. Leskov, L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, P.I. Tchaikovsky, A.A. Blok and was quoted extensively by V.V. Rozanov, D.S. Merezhkovsky, P.A. Florensky; until 1934 it had remained the sole Russian translation of Eckermann’s work. D.V. Averkiev’s translation has long become a bibliographic rarity. Its reprint illuminates the curious forms of dialogue between Goethe and the Russian culture that is still ongoing. For the first time the Russian text of “Conversations” is accompanied by complete and detailed comments, which explicate not only Goethe’s circle, his interests and activities but also how Eckermann’s book was received in the German, French and Russian cultures.

Keywords: J.W. Goethe, J.P. Eckermann, E. Delerot, D.V. Averkiev, Translation, Cultural Reception, Compilation, Intermediate Text.