(based on the materials of the writer’s family library)
It was in the second half of the 1830s − 1840s when I. S. Turgenev’s artistic and aesthetic
concept of Shakespeare was formed. This fact is proved not only by the writer’s letters and works
but also by the book collection of his library. While getting to understand Shakespeare, Turgenev
was going through a serious school of Shakespearean romantic criticism: from the representatives
of West European romanticism to the proper national interpretation forms. Hamlet was the central
image of this period for the writer. Turgenev’s perception of Hamlet was extremely complex and
ambiguous. Turgenev paid particular attention to the L. Tick’s “Shakespearean Preparatory
School,” in particular, to the introductory article for the first volume. The author’s marginalia on
the introductory pages not only testify to a focus of interest to the key phenomena in the history
of the Elizabethan drama but also reveal the nature of perception of Shakespeare through the experience of his predecessors and contemporaries. A well-known essay “The life of Shakespeare”
by F. Guizot (published as a general preface to the multi-volume edition of works by Shakespeare) was essential for Turgenev to understand the English playwright. The aesthetic manifest
of French romanticism provided a historical and philosophical concept of Shakespeare’s art. Turgenev combined the European theory of Shakespearean art with Russian Romantic tradition.
The writer underwent the way from a sublime poetical view, cultivated by N. V. Stankevitch and
the members of his circle, to the aesthetic-philosophic and social-historic understanding, which
Belinskiy came to in the 1840s. In the story “The Hamlet of the Shtchigri District,” Turgenev
presented his version of an artistic-critical interpretation of the Prince of Denmark. By estimating
Hamlet from the contemporary point of view, Turgenev objectively expresses its deeply tragic
sounding on the material of Russian reality.
Annenkov P. V. Literaturnye vospominaniya [Literary memories]. Leningrad, Academia,
1928, 662 p.
Bakunin M. A. Gamlet [Hamlet] In: M. A. Bakunin: pro et contra [M. A. Bakunin: pro
et contra]. St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy Publ., 2015, pp. 678–684.
Barant P. Notice sur “Hamlet”. Oeuvres complètes de Shakespeare. Paris, 1821, vol. 1,
pp. 155–177. OGLMT [Oryol State I. Turgenev’s Literary Museum].
Belinskiy V. G. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy: v 13 t. [Complete works: in 13 vols]. Moscow,
AN SSSR, 1853–1958.
Cheshikhin V. E. T. N. Granovskiy i ego vremya: istoricheskiy ocherk [T. N. Granovsky and
his time: a historical sketch]. St. Petersburg, 1905, 381 p.
Herzen A. I. Byloe i dumy. Chast 4 [My past and thoughts. Pt. 4]. In: Herzen A. I. Sobr.
soch.: v 30 t. [Complete works: in 30 vols]. Moscow, AN SSSR, 1956, vol. 9, pp. 9–262.
Gorbacheva V. N. Molodye gody Turgeneva (po neizdannym materialam) [Young years
of Turgenev (according to unpublished materials)]. Kazan, 1926, 47 p.
Guizot F. Vie de Shakespeare. Oeuvres completes de Shakespeare en 13 vol. Ed. par F. Guizot. Paris, 1821, vol. 1, 152 p. OGLMT [Oryol State I. Turgenev’s Literary Museum].
Gutman D. S. I. S Turgenev o Shekspire [I. S. Turgenev about Shakespeare] In: O traditsiyakh i novatorstve v literature i ustnom narodnom tvorchestve [On tradition and innovation
in literature and oral folk work]. Ufa, 1964, pp. 139–154.
Lanskiy L. R. Biblioteka Belinskogo [The Belinsky Library] In: Literaturnoye nasledstvo
[The literary heritage]. Moscow, AN SSSR, 1948, vol. 55: V. G. Belinskiy, pp. 431–572.
Levin Yu. D. Shestidesyatye gody [The sixties] In: Shekspir i russkaya kul’tura [Shakespeare
and Russian culture]. Moscow, Leningrad, Nauka, 1965, pp. 407–543.
Lotman L. M. Kommentariy k povesti “Stepnoy korol’ Lir” [Comment to the story “A King
Lear of the Steppes”]. In: Turgenev I. S. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem: v 28 t. Sochineniya:
v 15 t. [Complete works and letters: in 28 vols. Works: in 15 vols]. Moscow, Leningrad, Nauka,
1965, vol. 10, pp. 482–501.
Perepiska Nikolaya Vladimirovicha Stankevicha. 1830–1840 [The correspondence of Nikolai
Vladimirovich Stankevich. 1830–1840]. A. Stankevich (Ed. and publ.). Moscow, 1914, 785 p.
Reizov B. G. Shekspir i estetika frantsuzskogo romantizma [Shakespeare and the aesthetics
of French romanticism]. In: Shekspir v mirovoy literature [Shakespeare in world literature].
Moscow, Leningrad, Khudozh. lit., 1964, pp. 157–198.
Schlegel A. Etwas über William Shakespeare bei Gelegenheit Wilhelm Meisters. Die Horen:
eine Monatsschrift. Hrsg. Fr. Schiller. Tübingen, 1796, vol. 6, pp. 57–112.
Schlegel F. Estetika. Filosofiya. Kritika: V 2 t. [Aesthetics. Philosophy. Criticism: In 2 vols].
Moscow, Iskusstvo, 1983.
Shakespeares dramatische Werke in 9 Bd. Übs. von A. Schlegel. Berlin, 1825, vols 1–2.
OGLMT [Oryol State I. Turgenev’s Literary Museum].
Tieck L. Vorrede. In: Hrsg. von L. Tieck. Shakespeare’s Vorschule (2 vols). Leipzig, 1823,
vol. 1, pp. 5–42. (OGLMT. F. 1. Op. 3. OF. 325 / 1623)
T. N. Granovskiy i ego perepiska [T. N. Granovsky and his correspondence]. A. V. Stanke-
vich (Comp.). Moscow, 1897, vol. 2, 496 p.
Turgenev I. S. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem: v 30 t. Pis’ma: v 18 t. [Complete works
and letters: in 30 vols. Letters: in 18 vols]. Moscow, Nauka, 1982, vol. 1, 607 p.; 1987, vol. 3,
701 p.
Turgenev I. S. Polnoe sobranie sochineniy i pisem: v 30 t. Sochineniya: v 12 t. [Complete
works and letters: in 30 vols. Works: in 12 vols]. Moscow, Nauka, 1978, vol. 1, 574 p.; 1980,
vol. 5, 543 p.; 1989, vol. 12, 813 p.
Volkov I. O. “So strakhom... i veroyu pristupite...”: I. S. Turgenev – chitatel’ Shekspira
[“With fear... and by faith begin...”: I. S. Turgenev – a reader of Shakespeare]. Philological
Class. 2018, no. 3 (53), pp. 33–40.
(based on the materials of the writer’s family library) // Сибирский филологический журнал. 2020. № 1. Pp. 102–113. DOI: 10.17223/18137083/70/7.