Notes

p. 5, Mephistopheles: The name of the devil in the Faust legend, to whom Dr Faust sells his soul.

p. 6, a Gavarni illustration to a tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann: Paul Gavarni (1804–66) was a celebrated French illustrator and cartoonist. E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776–1822) was the famous German writer, painter and composer whose supernatural tales explored the foibles of human nature and were a great influence on Dostoevsky’s work.

p. 6, a patrician in the German sense of the word: In medieval Germany, wealthy non-noble citizens formed guilds were known as Patrizier and given local administrative and ceremonial posts. This title was transmitted by birth.

p. 7, ‘Ach, du lieber Augustin!’: A seventeenth-century Viennese folk song about Marx Augustin, a famous local street singer who drunkenly falls into a pit of plague victims and is taken for dead.

p. 7, famous wit Saphir: Moritz Gottlieb Saphir (1795–1858) was an Austrian journalist and humorist, who wrote in Vienna, Berlin, Munich and Paris and whose controversial wit often landed him in hot water.

p. 9, Aber: “But” (German).

p. 10, ein Glas: “A glass” (German).

p. 11, Schwernot! Was für eine Geschichte!: “Misery! What a story!” (German).

p. 11, Vasìlevsky: The name of the largest of the islands at the mouth of the Neva. At its eastern extremity are a series of parallel streets, formerly canals, which are known as линии, [linii] (plural), линия, [liniya] (singular); literally, lines, line, respectively. They are referred to by numbers, 1 to 27. Here the equivalent used is “lane”, hence “Sixth Lane”.

p. 15, The Children’s Reader: The Children’s Reader for the Heart and Mind (1785–89) was the first Russian reader for children and adolescents.

p. 16, some hundred and fifty souls: Under serfdom (abolished in 1861) the value of an estate was assessed principally by the number of serfs (souls) attached to it.

p. 19, “a pauper – scion of an ancient line”: From the poem ‘The Princess’ by Nikolai Nekrasov (1821–87).

p. 25, B.: Visarion Belinsky (1811–48) was Russia’s most famous literary critic, responsible for launching Dostoevsky’s first novel Poor Folk (1846). Ivan Petrovich, a lightly autobiographical figure, is writing that very novel on the pages of Humiliated and Insulted, published in 1861. Having read Poor Folk in manuscript, Belinsky rushed over to Dostoevsky in the dead of night to get him out of bed and congratulate him.

p. 27, Sumarokov’s generalship… court poet Derzhavin… Lomonosov: In the reign of Catherine the Great the playwright Alexander Sumarokov (1718–77) enjoyed a high-ranking civic title which was equivalent to that of an army general. Gavrila Derzhavin (1743–1816) was a poet at the Court of Catherine the Great and subsequently Minister of Justice in the reign of Alexander I. His ode Felicia earned him from Catherine II a diamond-encrusted tobacco casket and five hundred gold coins. Mikhail Lomonosov (1711–65) was a great scientist (discoverer of the atmosphere of Venus), writer, educator – a true polymath. Catherine came to visit him in his home laboratory on 7th June 1764.

p. 28, a Roslavlev, say, or a Yury Miloslavsky: Heroes in the historical novels of the writer Mikhail Zagoskin (1789–1852), Roslavlev or Russians in 1812 (1831) and Yury Miloslavsky or Russians in 1612 (1829), which formed part of the staple reading diet in the household of Dostoevsky’s parents.

p. 29, The Liberation of Moscow: A popular historical romance by Ivan Glukharev (1809–c.1840), first published in 1840, a favourite of the previous generation.

p. 31, Chevalier Star: The medal given to those awarded the French order of the Légion d’Honneur.

p. 31, Abbaddonna: An 1834 novel by Nikolai Polevoy (1796–1846) in which the hero conforms to the popular image of the misunderstood poet-dreamer.

p. 49, Scribe: The French playwright Eugène Scribe (1791–1861) enjoyed a long vogue from the 1820s to the 1840s with a prolific output of light social comedies.

p. 67, we too… my stepdaughter: According to Russian Orthodox Church law, marriage between a widower and a widow precludes subsequent marriage between their respective children from former unions.

p. 68, Karamzin: The classic twelve-volume History of the Russian State by Nikolai Karamzin (1766–1826), published 1816-29.

p. 82, Still the ringing… old soul: From the famous (rhymed) 1854 poem ‘The Harness Bell’ by Yakov Polonsky (1819–98).

p. 92, Gogol’s Mr Midshipman: A character in Gogol’s 1842 comedy The Marriage.

p. 98, ‘Dunk it’: In Gogol’s comic sketch The Lawsuit, published around 1839 or 1840, the wealthy old lady landowner Evdokia scribbles, “Dunk it” under her will instead of her name.

p. 98, Quelle charmante peinture!: “What a charming painting!” (French).

p. 128, He gave his shirt collar a flick: “I’ve had a few” in Russian body language.

p. 130, Cornelius Nepos: Cornelius Nepos (c.100–24 bc) was a Roman biographer, whose writings were a staple for students learning Latin.

p. 131, Frederick Barbarossa: Frederick I, or Frederick Barbarossa, (1122–90) was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 to his death in 1190 during the Third Crusade.

p. 132, Je prends mon bien où je le trouve: “I take my goods where I can find them” (French).

p. 141, Penates: The guardian deities of the Roman household.

p. 147, the St Stanislas Order: A civil honour instituted by Tsar Nicholas I in 1829 in recognition of service and contribution to the common weal, as well as the promotion of the glory of the country.

p. 164, the daughter of that king: Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome, was murdered by his son-in-law in 534 BC.

p. 204, Yeliseyev’s: A luxury department store in St Petersburg – still trading – equivalent to London’s Fortnum & Mason.

p. 215, Childhood and Youth: A reference to Tolstoy’s groundbreaking semi-autobiographical trilogy Childhood, Boyhood, Youth (1852–57). Here Dostoevsky takes a subtle, typically Dostoevskian dig, at his great contemporary whom he never met. Their wish to keep their distance was, of course, mutual.

p. 234, A bientôt!: “See you soon!” (French). Again, Dostoevsky’s useof French seems to be erroneous in this context.

p. 237, the incipient reforms: As discussed in the Russian press between 1858 and 1860, the emancipation of the serfs, legal reforms, cen-sorship, law reforms, etc.

p. 238, pire ça va, mieux ça est: “The worse it gets, the better it is” (French). Dostoevsky’s erroneous French has been preserved.

p. 249, Pardon, mon ami: “Sorry, my friend” (French).

p. 253, one of your writers: Ivan Turgenev (1818–83) in his 1860 novel On the Eve.

p. 255, mon cher: “My dear” (French).

p. 255, Pulcinella: A stock character, equivalent to Punch, in Italian Commedia dell’arte and puppetry.

p. 260, Quelle idée, mon cher… Buvons, mon ami: “What an idea, my dear”, “Let’s drink, my friend” (French).

p. 263, en somme: “In sum” (French).

p. 265, Talleyrand: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand (1754–1838) was a French diplomat and politician who was famous for his political astuteness.

p. 298, shchi: Along with borsch, one of Russia’s most distinctive soups, prepared from cabbage, mostly pickled.

p. 344, Take S***… one in ten: Probably Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910) and Ivan Goncharov (1812–91) respectively. The latter spent ten years on his classic 1859 novel Oblomov.

p. 358, Wieland: The German Romantic poet Christoph Martin Wieland (1733–1813), author of Oberon (1780).