Publishing Activity of F.M. Dostoevsky: Business Books of A.G. Dostoevskaya as a Source

Abstract

The complex of materials related to the publishing activities of F.M. Dostoevsky includes several business notebooks of A.G. Dostoevskaya, preserved in her archive and dedicated to sales accounting, as well as containing records of subscribers' addresses. 7 similar documents were systematized and described, as well as 6 additional sources adjacent to them for the dissemination of "A Writer`s Diary". The work on the preparation for publication of two similar books by subscribers allowed us to identify the possibilities of their use in textual or biographical research: to disclose the names (initials) of the writer's correspondents; clarification (correction) or determination of the dating of the letter; scientific commentary of the epistolary and the compilation of biographical information about correspondents; attribution of anonymous addressees. In general, an appeal to such an optional documentary source as A.G. Dostoevsky's notebooks. Dostoevsky with the lists of subscribers of "A Writer`s Diary" and its use in combination with other materials and sources can be very fruitful and lead to interesting, reliable results in the textual study of the late journalism of F.M. Dostoevsky.