p. 4, land of holy miracles: Name given to Western Europe by the Slavophile poet A. Khomyakov (1804–60) in his poem ‘A Dream’ (1834). (translator’s note)

p. 5, Kaulbach’s frescoes: Probably a reference to Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1804–74), a German painter and illustrator.

p. 6, Krestovsky: V. Krestovsky (1840–95), a very minor poetaster, and third-rate novelist. (translator’s note)

p. 6, Karamzin: N. Karamzin (1766–1826), historian, poet and novelist, strongly influenced by eighteenth-century British writers, such as Sterne and Richardson. His Poor Liza (1792), a lachrymose and sentimental little tale, had an enormous success and is generally considered to be the first Russian novel. The sentence quoted in this context comes out of his Swiss letters (dated 14th August 1789). (translator’s note)

p. 6, Jean Maria Farina: Jean Maria Farina (1685–1766) was the inventor of eau de Cologne. Dostoevsky may be referring to his shop in Cologne.

p. 7, eau de Cologne ou la vie: “Eau de Cologne or your life” (French).

p. 10, Fonvizin: Denis Fonvizin (1744–92), “the father of Russian comedy”, author of The Brigadier (1766). The present quotation comes from Letter 44, written from Aachen on 29th September 1778, and addressed to General P. Panin. The rest of the sentence is as follows: “…for it would force them to think instead of enjoying themselves.” (translator’s note)

p. 10, Belinsky: Vissarion Belinsky (1811–48) was the most famous of all Russian literary critics at a time when literary criticism performed also the function of social and political criticism. He was a liberal and a “Westerner” in his sympathies. (translator’s note)

p. 10, George Sand, Proudhon… Louis Blanc, Ledru-Rollin: George Sand was the pseudonym of the novelist Madame Amandine Aurore Lucile Dupin, baronne Dudevant (1804–76). Pierre Joseph Proudhon (1809–65) was a libertarian socialist. Louis Blanc (1811–82) was a utopian socialist. Alexandre-Auguste Ledru-Rollin (1807–74) was a prominent politician.

p. 11, Chaadayev: Pyotr Chaadayev (1794–1856), author of Lettres Philosophiques, in which the value of all Russian cultural achievements (past, present and even future) is vehemently denied, and Western Europe is proclaimed to be the only source of light. (translator’s note)

p. 11, mot: “Phrase” (French).

p. 11, Nekrasov’s Belopyatkin: Nikolai Nekrasov (1821–78), Russian poet. Belopyatkin is the hero of one of his early

poems. (translator’s note)

p. 11, the land of holy miracles: See note to page 14.

p. 13, Pushkin… Pugachev: Pugachev was a leader of a peasant revolt in the eighteenth century, depicted by Pushkin in his history of the revolt and in a short novel, The Captain’s Daughter. (translator’s note)

p. 13, Belkin: In 1831 Pushkin published a collection of five short stories supposedly written by a retired officer of modest means “the late Ivan Petrovich Belkin”. (translator’s note)

p. 13, Onegin: Pushkin’s most famous poem Eugene Onegin (1824–28). (translator’s note)

p. 14, the Exhibition: The reference is to the World Exhibition of 1862. Though historically not as famous as its predecessor, the Great Exhibition of 1851, it in fact exceeded it in extent, cost, attendance and number of exhibitors. (translator’s note)

p. 16, Potemkin’s: Gregory Potemkin (1735–91) was a Russian general and statesman, one of the most powerful of Catherine II’s favourites.

p. 16, Ruslans… Lyudmilas: A reference to the central characters of Pushkin’s verse narrative, Ruslan and Lyudmila (1820)

p. 16, kokoshniks: A headdress traditionally worn by Russian women. (translator’s note)

p. 18, Shchedrin’s provincial sketches: N. Shchedrin, literary pseudonym of Mikhail Saltykov (1826–89), probably the most famous of all Russian satirists after Gogol (1809–52). His Provincial Sketches were published in 1856–57 and gained for him an immediate and widespread popularity among the more liberal elements of the Russian reading public. (translator’s note)

p. 19, The Brigadier: See first note to page 21.

p. 19, You may… better: Potemkin is supposed to have said this to Fonvizin at the first night of the play (1766). (translator’s note)

p. 20, Mountains… clouds: These two lines occur in Derzhavin’s ode ‘On Souvorov’s Victories’ (1794) celebrating the taking of Warsaw by the Russian troops. Gabriel Derzhavin (1743–1816) was a statesman and grand old man of Russian eighteenth-century poetry. (translator’s note)

p. 21, Kozma Prutkov: An imaginary civil servant and author of bogus aphorisms, comic verse, fables, anecdotes etc. The pseudonym was used by the poet Alexey Tolstoy (1817–71) and his cousins Zhemchouzhnikov. (translator’s note)

p. 21, Catherine the Great: Catherine II (1729–96) ruled Russia from 1762 until her death.

p. 21, Ochakov: A fortress (now town) on the north shore of the Black Sea, captured by Potemkin from the Turks in 1788. (translator’s note)

p. 24, in conscientious… debauch: Quotation from the poem ‘Meditation’ by Lermontov (1814–41). (translator’s note)

p. 24, Gvozdilovs: Gvozdilov is one of the characters in Fonvizin’s play The Brigadier (see first note to page 21). According to the conventions of the time, his personality is revealed by his name, which is derived from the word gvozdit, to beat or bully. (translator’s note)

p. 24, In valiant… heads: Quotation from Griboyedov’s comedy of manners The Misfortune of Being Clever (1824). (translator’s note)

p. 27, Captain Kopeykin: A character in Gogol’s Dead Souls (1842). (translator’s note)

p. 29, Bazarov: A character in Fathers and Sons (1861) by Ivan Turgenev (1818–83), representing extreme materialism and opposition to accepted prejudices and opinions. He is the Russian literary symbol of nihilism, a term borrowed by Turgenev from the critic Nadezhdin and given the political and social connotation it has retained ever since. (translator’s note)

p. 29, Kukshina: Another character in Fathers and Sons, who is meant to represent the prototype of the mid-nineteenth century “emancipated woman”, with ideas similar to those of Bazarov. (translator’s note)

p. 30, pour paraître: “For the sake of appearance” (French).

p. 32, Chatsky: The main character of Griboyedov’s play The Misfortune of Being Clever (also translated as Woe from Wit). He represents honesty and common sense with disastrous consequences to himself. Treated as insane by his former friends at a ball given by Famusov, he shakes off the dust of Moscow and makes his exit with a speech in which occurs the phrase about “wounded pride” quoted below. Famusov, Skalozub, Repetilov, Molchalin, Countess Khlyostov, Natalya Dmitryevna (a slip on Dostoevsky’s part – it should be Natalya Yuryevna) – names mentioned in this chapter – are all characters out of the same play. (translator’s note)

p. 33, Regulus: Probably a reference to Marcus Atilius Regulus, a Roman general in the third century bc, who is said to have been admired by the Romans for his honour and patriotism.

p. 34, Mais moi, c’est autre chose: “But with me, it’s something else” (French).

p. 35, those who… Catholic priests: No doubt an oblique reference to Prince Ivan Gagarin (1814–82), who left Russia in 1843 and made his home in France, where he was converted to Catholicism and joined the Jesuit order. His conversion made a great impression on Dostoevsky, who refers to it in later works. (translator’s note)

p. 36, Erquelines… France: Erquelines is on the Belgian side of the Franco-Belgian border; the French frontier station is Jeumont. The remarks that follow in Chapter 4 would therefore seem to apply to Belgium rather than France, thus invalidating much of Dostoevsky’s argument and analysis. However, the probable explanation is simply that the similarity of language spoken on both sides of the frontier confused Dostoevsky, who had Jeumont in mind while writing, and did not bother to check up on his recollection of the episode by referring to a map. This assumption is rendered all the more plausible by the fact that Dostoevsky misspells Erquelines (he writes Arquelines), which he would hardy have done if he had looked it up on a map. (translator’s note)

p. 38, à demi-solde: “In the reserves on half-salary” (French).

p. 41, votre état: “Your status” (French).

p. 41, Homme de lettres: “Man of letters” (French).

p. 41, propriétaire: “Landowner” (French).

p. 42, pour voir Paris: “To see Paris” (French).

p. 46, the World Exhibition: See note to page 25.

p. 47, one fold: See John 10:16.

p. 49, How long… Lord: See Revelation 6:10–11.

p. 52, Crois-tu cela: “Do you believe that” (French).

p. 52, I am… the Life: John 11:25.

p. 54, golden calves: See Exodus 32.

p. 55, le tiers état c’est tout: “The third estate is everything” (French).

p. 56, après moi le deluge: “After me, the deluge” (French). The saying is commonly attributed to Louis XV (1710–74).

p. 56, pot-au-feu: “Stew” (French).

p. 58, gloire militaire: “Military glory” (French).

p. 58, Jacques Bonhomme: The name is sometimes used to refer to French peasants.

p. 59, Mikhailovsky Theatre: The reference is to the annual season of French plays given by visiting French actors in the Mikhailovsky Theatre in St Petersburg. (translator’s note)

p. 59, Grandison… Alcibiades… Montmorency: “Grandison” and “Montmorency” are titles. The name “Alcibiades” was given to the Margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach.

p. 61, faire fortune: “Make your fortune” (French).

p. 62, Abbé Sieyès… famous pamphlet: Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (1748–1836) was a statesman and constitutional theorist. His influential 1789 pamphlet Qu’est-ce que le tiers état? (“What is the Third Estate?”) was a significant contribution to the thinking behind the French Revolution.

p. 67, Cabet: Etienne Cabet (1788–1856) was a French utopian socialist.

p. 68, liberté… mort: Based on the slogan proclaimed by Graccus Babeuf (1760–95). Some of the “decrees” he published for the benefit of his future communist republic bore the words: “Liberté, Egalité, Bonheur Commun ou la Mort.” (translator’s note)

p. 68, Louis-Philippe: Louis-Philippe (1773–1850) was King of France from 1830 to 1848.

p. 69, Napoleon III: Charles-Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808–73) was President of the Second Republic of France from 1850 to 1852, and Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870.

p. 70, Barbier’s iambics: Henry Auguste Barbier (1805–82) was a French poet who, inspired by the French Revolution of 1830, condemned the evils of his time.

p. 72, Garibaldi… Aspromonte: Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807–82), the Italian political leader, was wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Aspromonte, which arose out of the presence of Napoleon III’s French troops in Rome.

p. 74, Après moi le déluge: “After me, the deluge” (French). The phrase is commonly attributed to Louis XV (1710–74).

p. 75, Louis XIV: Louis XIV (1638–1715) was King of France from 1643 until his death.

p. 76, l’état c’est moi: “I am the State” (French).

p. 76, Thiers, Guizot, Odilon Barrot: Adolphe Thiers (1797–1877), François Guizot (1787–1874) and Odilon Barrot (1791–1873) were French politicians.

p. 77, suffrage universel: “Universal suffrage” (French).

p. 79, salle des pas perdus: “Room of lost footsteps” (French).

p. 81, Jules Favre: Jules Favre (1809–80) was a French statesman.

p. 81, Ci-gît: “Here lies” (French).

p. 81, Voltaire: Voltaire was the pseudonym of François-Marie Arouet (1694–1778), the world-renowned French writer.

p. 81, Corneille: Pierre Corneille (1606–84) was a French poet and dramatist, and is considered the founder of French tragedy.

p. 82, Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78), the highly influential philosopher, writer and political thinker.

p. 82, l’homme de la nature et de la vérité: “The man of nature and truth” (French).

p. 82, Marshal Lannes: Jean Lannes (1769–1809), Duke of Montebello, a French general who rose from humble beginnings to his eventual prominence.

p. 83, C’est fini, monsieur: “It’s finished, sir” (French).

p. 83, quelques sénateurs: “These senators” (French).

p. 86, en flagrant délit: “In the act of wrongdoing” (French).

p. 89, Le russe est sceptique et moqueur: “The Russians are sceptical and mocking” (French).

p. 89, grandes eaux: “Great waters” (French).

p. 89, 96, Le Sage’s Devil: Alain René Le Sage (1668–1747), a French novelist and playwright, whose works include Asmodeus, or The Devil on Two Sticks.

p. 90, Mon mari n’a pas encore vu la mer: “My husband still hasn’t seen the sea” (French).

p. 90, se rouler dans l’herbe: “To roll in the grass” (French).

p. 90, avec la nature: “With nature” (French).

p. 91, mon arbre, mon mur: “My tree, my wall” (French).

p. 94, bonnet de cotton: “Cotton cap” (French).

p. 96, l’épée de mon père: “My father’s sword” (French).