Epistolary heritage of Alexander Blok without cuts

MOSCOW. Gorky publishing house IMLI published correspondence between Alexander Blok and Lyubov Mendeleev without cuts.

The nature of interest in the epistolary heritage of a famous person may be different. The desire, through the prism of the innermost, deeply personal, to better understand the work of the beloved writer. Or an idle philistine curiosity about the details of private life and possible weaknesses. The reason for the gloating, gossip, and sometimes the creation of frank libel. It is not for nothing that the archives of many famous people remain “out of the access zone” for decades at their will and will of the heirs. This applies to personal documents of Vladimir Vysotsky and Nikolai Khardzhiev. Only in 2000 were the archives of Tsvetaeva, Yesenin, Mayakovsky open for researchers.

Censorship, ideological attitudes, and stereotypes often become a serious obstacle. The non-periodical scientific publication Literary Heritage has come across this more than once. Compilations with the works of domestic writers, memoirs, analytical articles, began to be published in 1931 at the initiative of art critic and collector Ilya Zilberstein, who returned thousands of invaluable documents to his homeland.

The 65th volume “New about Mayakovsky” was severely criticized, the 66th volume, dedicated to him, was banned. Doubtful fragments from the "Bruce" volumes were digging out, Markovich’s publication about Blok and Klyuyev did not see the light, there could be no talk of publishing the works of Voloshin, Gippius, Merezhkovsky. The first acquaintance of readers with the letters of the Block to Lyubov Mendeleeva took place in a stripped-down version in 1978. The collection was dedicated to the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Bloc.

317 letters of the poet were published, evidence of doubts, insights, searches of his restless soul. There was not a single response message from Lyubov Dmitrievna in that collection. The image of the writer, who did not leave his homeland after the revolution, should not have been overshadowed by the faulty, from the point of view of censors, moments of his biography. Psychological splitting, Madonna-the Harlot complex. The image of the beloved girl who inspired the poet to a cycle of poems about the Beautiful Lady, exalted, pure and immaculate, was incompatible with carnal desires. Hence the mutual betrayal of both spouses.

The origins of the complex - often come from childhood, deep affection for the mother. Alexandra Andreevna Kublitskaya-Piottukh was the first listener of her son’s poems, his main interlocutor and friend. “Mom and I are almost the same…” In adulthood, an equally strong spiritual connection, combined with a taboo of thoughts about sexual intimacy, arose with Blok in relation to Lyubov Dmitrievna.

The publishing house IMLI RAS published the correspondence of Blok and Mendeleev in full, without ideological exceptions and hypocritical banknotes. The 700-page collection is complemented by rare photographs and drawings.

Elena Tanakova © Gallerix.ru