by Cathy Porter
Alyosha: The Tolstoys’ ten-month-old son.
Lyovochka has taken Lyova to Moscow: Tolstoy went to Moscow to supervise building work and repairs on a house he bought in the summer of 1882 in Dolgo-Khamovniki Street (now Lev Tolstoy Street). On 8th October the whole family moved to Moscow, and spent their winters there until 1901.
1883
He continues with his religious writings: From the end of 1882 to January 1884 Tolstoy worked on a tract entitled ‘What I Believe’. The first edition (in 1884) was seized and banned, and it was only in 1906, after the first Russian revolution, that it was published in Russia.
1885
Lyovochka returned yesterday…Urusov: Tolstoy and Urusov travelled to the Crimean coast for two weeks.
He had…thirty years ago: Tolstoy was in Sevastopol during the Crimean War, from 7th November 1854 to the middle of November 1855.
1886
Lev Nikolaevich was ill: At the beginning of August 1886, Tolstoy hurt his leg while working in the fields and it became infected.
So on the one hand…are incapable of doing: Sergei Tolstoy wrote, apropos of this entry: “One reason for the discord between Lev Nikolaevich and Sofia Andreevna was the undefined nature of the demands he made on her. L.N. demanded that their life should be simplified but gave no limits for this simplification and rarely gave any concrete advice as to what should be done. Questions as to where and how his family should live, what should be done with the estates, how the children should be educated, and so on, remained unanswered.”
Lev Nikolaevich is starting on a new play, about peasant life: From October to November 1886 Tolstoy was writing his play The Power of Darkness, inspired by a story related to him by N.V. Davydov. The play was first published by the Intermediary publishing house in February 1887.
Mme Seuron: Anna Seuron was governess to both Tanya and Masha Tolstaya.
the lives of the philosophers: L. Diogène, La Vie des plus illustres philosophes de l’antiquité… Paris, 1841.
A letter came from Ilya mentioning marriage: Ilya Tolstoy was in love with Sofia Filosofova, who he married in February 1888. Tolstoy regarded this marriage with “joy and fear”.
1887
four students in Petersburg…funeral service: On 1st March 1887, the police arrested five students for the attempt on Alexander III’s life, including Lenin’s brother Alexander Ulyanov. They were tried and sentenced to death, and executed on 8th May 1887.
The play is a huge success: On 3rd February 1887, A.A. Stakhovich wrote to her that he was reading The Power of Darkness in St Petersburg and trying to familiarize a large number of influential people with the work in order to exert pressure on the censors. On 27th January he read the play in the presence of Alexander III, who found it a “marvellous piece” and recommended that it be staged at the imperial theatres.
Lyovochka has written a story about the early Christians: From the end of 1886 until June 1887 Tolstoy was working on and off on a story called ‘Walk in the Light While There Is Light. A Tale of the Ancient Christians’. It was first published in Russia in 1893, in an anthology called The Pathway. A Literary-Scientific Anthology in Aid of the Society for Helping Needy Migrants.
an article entitled ‘On Life and Death’: This was Tolstoy’s first title for his tract On Life. He continued working on it throughout 1887.
The new cheap edition has come out: She is referring to the new cheaply published sixth edition of The Works of L.N. Tolstoy, vols. 1–12, Moscow, which appeared in 1887.
Seryozha has gone off to Tula…the peasant bank: Sergei Tolstoy was then a member of the Tula department of the zemstvo peasant bank.
vint: A card game rather like whist.
Chertkov: Vladimir Grigorevich Chertkov, friend and fellow thinker of Tolstoy’s.
As for Chertkov’s work…for that: Sofia Tolstoy is referring to the Intermediary publishing house, founded by Tolstoy, Chertkov and Biryukov in 1884 to publish literary and popular scientific works for a popular audience. Chertkov wrote to Tolstoy on 25th February 1887, with various questions about the publication of his works by the Intermediary.
Feinerman: Isaak Feinerman, a young teacher and follower of Tolstoy’s, who dreamt of establishing a peasant commune.
Lyovochka is writing…University Psychological Society: On 14th March 1887, at a meeting of the Moscow Psychological Society, Tolstoy gave a paper on ‘The Understanding of Life’—a short résumé of his book On Life. In it he criticized prevailing ideas on religion and morality, and formulated his own new world outlook.
vegetarian diet: Sergei Tolstoy wrote in his memoirs: “He became especially committed to vegetarianism after his acquaintance with the positivist and vegetarian William Fry, who visited him in the autumn of 1885. My sisters Tanya and Masha were also converted at that time to ‘food without killing’. My mother thought vegetarianism was harmful and she was wrong: when my father had liver problems it was of undoubted benefit to him. And it never did my sisters any harm.”
what a sad…communion: In a letter of 18th–20th February 1887, Chertkov wrote to Tolstoy: “I am inexpressibly grateful to God for granting me the blessing of being at one with my wife. This always makes me mindful of those for whom this spiritual communion with their wives is not possible and who, it would appear, deserve this happiness far, far more than I.”
Ilya has…for drill: Ilya Tolstoy was serving in the volunteer regiment of the Suma dragoons, stationed in the Khamovniki barracks.
We had a visit…for our play: At the end of 1886 M.G. Savina, an actress at the Alexandrovsky Theatre, asked Tolstoy’s permission to put on a benefit performance of The Power of Darkness, and rehearsals started in February. In a letter to Sofia Tolstoy, the director Potekhin wrote that “in order to learn about this type of peasant and the details of their homes and surroundings, and to find the characteristic local costumes for the actors, two specialists were sent off to Yasnaya Polyana.”
Grigory: A servant in the Tolstoys’ home.
I miss Ilyusha and am sorry I haven’t visited him yet: The Suma regiment of dragoons was then stationed in the village of Vladykino, near Moscow.
Florinsky’s book: V.M. Florinsky’s Home Medicine. A Medical Guide for Popular Use.
his article: Tolstoy’s tract On Life.
Seryozha was in Samara but hasn’t settled anything: Sergei Tolstoy visited the Tolstoys’ Samara estate to put the running of it in order.
The painter Repin: Ilya Repin (1844–1930), Russia’s foremost naturalist painter.
dark ones: The term “dark ones” had become current in the Tolstoy house, and not only Sofia Tolstoy used it, but Tolstoy too. Sofia Tolstoy called Evgeny Popov an “Oriental” as he was Georgian by birth.
Lev…Yasnaya Polyana: The last three sentences were added later by Sofia Tolstoy, and a dried flower is attached to the page.
1890
Masha and I…it is: Masha Tolstaya was very close to her father. Ilya Tolstoy recalled: “She identified closely with her father’s loneliness, was the first of us all to renounce her peers, and imperceptibly but determinedly went over to his side.”
Thanks to…well pleased: On 26th November 1890 Tolstoy went to Krapivna to attend a session of the Tula magistrate’s court, where four Yasnaya Polyana peasants were being tried for killing when they were drunk a horse-thief from the village, Gavril Balkhin.
Before the trial Tolstoy visited the peasants in jail. The trial he regarded as “shameful comedy”. Tolstoy’s presence there influenced the sentence. “One was acquitted, and the other three received lenient sentences,” Tolstoy wrote to A.V. Alekhin, 2nd December 1890.
The story about the murder of the horse-thief probably served as the basis for the description of the peasant Ivan Mironov’s murder in the story ‘The Forged Coupon’.
Vanechka: Ivan, the Tolstoys’ two-year-old son.
Then Biryukov came…to rest: Tolstoy’s friend Pavel Biryukov wanted to marry Masha. Sofia was against the marriage.
Lyovochka told me…to see me: Tolstoy noted in his diary, 15th December 1890: “When I went out of the house this morning Ilya Balkhin came to me pleading for a pardon: they have been sent to jail for six weeks. I feel exceedingly depressed, and my heart has been heavy all day. I must leave.”
Lyova and I had a talk…of course: In 1897 Masha Tolstaya married Nikolai Obolensky, and in 1899 Tatyana married Mikhail Sukhotin. The Tolstoys were not in favour of these marriages.
Sasha: The Tolstoys’ six-year-old daughter Alexandra.
article on the Church: Tolstoy was working on his treatise ‘The Kingdom of God Is within Us’. In June 1890 he started on the introduction to his ‘Catechism of Non-Resistance’. He wanted “briefly and clearly to express the meaning of Christian non-resistance”. The article, ‘On Resistance to Evil, the Church and Military Service’ grew into a book of social criticism, which was published abroad in 1893. The treatise was banned in Russia and first published there in 1906.
Sonya…had had a son: A son, Nikolai, was born to Ilya and Sofia Tolstoy on 20th December 1890; he died in 1893.
flattering letter from Fet…unattractive, in fact: The letter from Fet to Sofia Tolstoy, dated 21st December 1890, begins with the words: “Dear Countess, it is not my fault that I am a poet—you are my shining ideal. Let the matter be tried before the Court of Heaven, and if the word poet means fool I willingly submit to this. It is not a matter of intellect but happiness. And to bear in our heart people dear to us is a great happiness.” Sofia Tolstoy’s sharp words here about Fet are uncharacteristic: she was always very warmly disposed towards him and visited him in the months of his fatal illness.
U.: Prince Leonid Urusov, who died in 1885.
The Zinovievs…Mme Giuliani: Nikolai Zinoviev, Governor of Tula, and his wife and children. Mme Giuliani was a singer.
Sofia Alexeevna: The mother of Ilya Tolstoy’s wife.
1891
Bulygin and Kolechka Gué: The Tolstoys’ friends Mikhail Bulygin, a landowner and neighbour, and the painter Nikolai Gué.
Nikolai Nikolaevich: Nikolai Gué, son of the painter, arrived at Yasnaya Polyana on 1st January.
Alexei Mitrofanovich: Alexei Mitrofanovich Novikov, the children’s tutor.
Lyovochka…such works: In the autumn of 1884, he renounced the ownership of his land, property and literary rights, and entrusted Sofia to conduct his affairs and be responsible for all his works published before 1881.
Davydov: The Tolstoys’ friend Nikolai Davydov, president of the Tula, then Moscow circuit court.
Klopsky…dark one: Ivan Klopsky (or Klobsky) first visited Tolstoy on 1st January 1889, with Fyodor Strakhov. He had lived in Tolstoyan agricultural communities. Gorky refers to him in My Universities. Tolstoy wrote to Nikolai Gué: “After you came Klobsky. He has become a very, very good person, you know. I was so glad to see him as he is now.”
The Kreutzer Sonata: She was reading the proofs for vol. 13 of The Works of L.N. Tolstoy, which included The Kreutzer Sonata and the afterword to The Kreutzer Sonata. The volume was compiled without the censors’ permission and was banned.
He read me a short story…more of a children’s story really: Lyova Tolstoy’s story ‘Montecristo’ was published in the Source no. 4, 1891; the story ‘Love’ in March 1891, under the pseudonym L. Lvov. Tolstoy wrote to his son about them: “You have, I think, what they call talent, which is very common and of no value—that is, the capacity to see, observe and describe. But there is no evidence of that deep heartfelt need to express something. You cling to subjects that are too large, and are beyond your power and experience. Try to take a subject less broad, less obvious, and elaborate it at a more profound level where you might express more simple, childish, youthful feelings and experiences.”
J’ai longtemps…espoir: “I have long tried to be worthy of Tatyana Lvovna, but she has never given me any hope” (French).
Later on Lyovochka read us Schiller’s Don Carlos: Tanya Tolstaya recalls this reading in a letter to Elizaveta Olsufieva of 14th February 1891: “Papa and Maman are both very cheerful and trying to amuse us, Maman with all kinds of things to eat and drink, and Papa with readings from Don Carlos—which, by the way, we didn’t like.”
La Physiologie de l’amour moderne: By Paul Bourget (Paris, 1891).
Beketov’s pamphlet On Man’s Present and Future Nourishment: A.N. Beketov, ‘The Present and Future Nourishment of Man’, St Petersburg, 1879. Tolstoy advised Chertkov to publish the article in the Intermediary. “This is absolutely necessary,” he wrote to him on 16th May 1891.
copied out Lyovochka’s Sevastopol diaries: Tolstoy’s diaries for 1854–57. Recalling this work later, she wrote: “I copied out his old diaries so there would be two copies of them. I was filled with the idea that everything that came from Lev Nikolaevich’s pen must be preserved, and that there must be two copies.”
Masha has opened a school for the riff-raff in “that house”: In the 1890s Masha and Tanya Tolstaya organized a school in a little stone house near the entrance to the Yasnaya Polyana estate. The school hadn’t been officially permitted and was closed on the information of the priest. Lessons continued in “that house”, i.e. the left wing of the main house.
He is writing about art and science again: Tolstoy noted in his diary, on 14th February 1891: “Today, like every other day, I have sat over notebooks of works I have started—on science, art and non-resistance to evil—and I cannot get down to them.”
his latest story: The Kreutzer Sonata.
but his diaries…infuriates him: Tolstoy noted in his diary on 14th February 1891: “Started rereading my diary, which Sonya is copying out. It was painful. I spoke irritably to her and infected her with my irritation. She lost her temper and said some cruel things. It didn’t last longer than an hour. Then I stopped thinking of myself and thought of her instead, and we affectionately made up.”
Masha’s birthday…twenty years later: She was evidently referring to the puerperal fever which set in immediately after the birth and continued in an extremely serious form for a month. Her relationship with Masha was complicated and erratic. Masha’s desire to serve the simple people sometimes far exceeded her strength, for she wasn’t in good health, and provoked her mother’s irritation. She didn’t always believe in the sincerity of her daughter’s intentions, and considered she was “constantly thinking up some new venture which was bound to make her suffer”. She didn’t encourage her fascination with medicine, which prompted her visits to the hospital. Masha’s inclinations and her passionate temperament provoked her mother and she suffered much, always trying to yield to her mother and mollify her.
Borel: M. Borel was the boys’ tutor.
Rovsky Barracks: A forest lodge, 2 miles from Yasnaya Polyana.
writing…About non-resistance: The article ‘On Non-resistance’, which later became the tract, The Kingdom of God Is within You. In 1894 it was first brought out in Russian in Berlin.
letter from Countess Alexandra Andreevna Tolstaya…to reply: Sofia Andreevna wanted an audience with the Tsar about the banned volume 13, and asked Tolstoy’s cousin to discover if this would be possible.
I shall bring out…been delayed: After her return from Moscow, Sofia Tolstoy wrote to Sergei, in a letter of 17th March: “I returned today from Moscow where I had hurried off for a couple of days to find out about the banned Volume Thirteen. It’s a bad business: 18,000 copies printed, and it’s not known what will happen to them. All the articles in Volume Twelve have been banned. I have arranged that the
other twelve volumes will go on sale with a slip of paper inside on which I have written: ‘Due to circumstances beyond the Publisher’s control, Volume Thirteen cannot be released.’”
I went to Tula…Wanderer’s art exhibition: From the 21st to the 29th of March, the nineteenth Exhibition of Paintings of the Fellowship of Wandering Artists opened in the premises of the Tula Assembly of the Nobility.
Then we resumed…and Vanechka too: It was L.N. Tolstoy’s renunciation of his property that led to its division among members of his family. In a letter to her sister Tanya on 21st April, Sofia wrote: “We have been discussing the division of the property, and still haven’t decided how to share it out. There is something sad and improper about the way this division affects Father. Well it’s not my business, I didn’t plan it.” Tolstoy expressed his attitude to this in a letter to Nikolai Gué, dated 17th April 1891: “I am having to sign a document, a deed of settlement, which releases me from the property, and the very signature of it means a retreat from principle. Yet I shall sign it, for if I don’t I shall cause them greater anger.” Tolstoy signed the deed of settlement on 17th April 1891.
Nikolai Strakhov: Nikolai Strakhov (1828–95), eminent literary critic and philosopher.
two art exhibitions, the Wanderers’ and the Academy: The nineteenth Exhibition of Paintings of the Fellowship of Wandering Artists, and the Annual Exhibition of the Academy of Arts.
the idea of transforming…by the authorities: The reference is to Chertkov’s Intermediary publishing house.
displeased…meeting with the Tsar…consequences: Tolstoy wrote in his diary, on 18th April: “Sonya arrived back three days ago. I find it unpleasant that she has been ingratiating herself with the Tsar and complaining to him about people stealing my manuscripts. I couldn’t control myself and said some harsh things to her, but it has passed.”
We had a wretched letter from Lyova…university: Lyova Tolstoy was a student for a year at the medical faculty of Moscow University, then transferred to the first year of the philological faculty. In the spring, illness forced him to leave the university. In a letter to his mother dated 26th April, he wrote that he could no longer endure the examination procedures at the university, and couldn’t submit to “having a lot of names, figures and Slavonic grammar stuffed down my throat. What will I do then?” he wrote. “Well, first of all, I’ve never done anything up to now anyway, so at least it will be no worse. Secondly, I have a year of military service. And after that who knows? It’s too early to tell.”