Corpus Composition of M. Yu. Lermontov’s Poems Written in 1840: Problems of Sources and Dating
https://doi.org/10.18384/2949-5008-2025-4-98-110
Abstract
Aim. To explain the composition of Lermontov’s poems in the first collection (1840), which differs from the 1842 edition edited by A. A. Kraevsky and from the latest scientific edition published in 2014.
Methodology. The object is the corpus of Lermontov’s poems published in 1840. Through a comparative analysis of the main scientific publications of Lermontov’s works, catalogues of handwritten material and preserved autographs, the history of the formation of the corpus Lermontov’s poems published in 1840 is reconstructed, the composition of the primary sources is clarified, and disputed dates are explained. Descriptive and source analysis, bibliographic commentary, and the textual method are used.
Results. The comparative analysis of the poetry corpus in created in 1840 based on Lermontov’s main scientific publications revealed the need to revise printed texts, considering preserved autographs and editorial corrections. This problem can be solved by referring to three groups of sources – Lermontov’s manuscripts, since a few works of this year remained without a preserved autograph, magazine publications of the 1840s, and the composition of the poet’s first lifetime collection of poems. Guided by the presence of a dated autograph, thematic generality, biographical information based on well-known facts and testimonies of contemporaries, it has been concluded that inclusion of the poems (“How often, surrounded by a motley crowd ...”, “On secular chains ...”, “To the portrait”, “To the album by the author "Kyrdyukova"”, “In the midst of heavenly bodies...”, “Both boring and sad...”, “Why”, “Gratitude”, “From Goethe”, “Airship”, “Journalist, Reader and Writer”, “Neighbor”, “Captured Knight”, “Wandering over the Abyss of Hell...”, “Clouds”, “Valerik”, “There are the Speeches – the Meaning...”, “The Will”) is definitely necessary.
Research implications. Both the refinement of the text’s corpus published in 1840 and the clarification of the publication principles of Lermontov’s poems have been revealed.
About the Authors
I. A. KiselevaRussian Federation
Irina А. Kiseleva– Dr. Sci. (Philology), Prof., Head of the Department, Department of Russian and Foreign Literature.
Moscow
K. A. Potashova
Russian Federation
Ksenia А. Potashova – Dr. Sci. (Philology), Assoc. Prof., Department of Russian and Foreign Literature.
Moscow
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