Studia Litterarum

2500-4247

IWL RAS

https://doi.org/10.22455/2500-4247-2025-10-4-355-373

Research Article

Articles

Vera Muromtseva-Bunina’s Diary of 1919: Issues of Textual Criticism

Morozov

Sergey N.

red@studlit.ru

December 25, 2025

2025

January 15, 2025

For the first time, the article examines all forms of sources for the text of Vera Muromtseva-Bunina’s 1919 diary, i. e., autograph and typescripts. It identifies and articulates all kinds of divergences between the autograph of the diary of 1919 and typescripts and the text of the diary entries for that year. Due to the presence of the autograph and different variants of the 1919 diary typescript, the methodology of producing the text of these diary entries has been developed. The article considers typical difficulties and suggests ways of solving them. Mainly, the autograph of the 1919 diary differs from its typewritten text by abbreviations, insertions, the absence of a number of entries in the autograph, which are known only from the typewritten text, and variants of the text in the typewritten text. The study of all the sources of the text of the 1919 diary allows us to reconstruct the text. The main text is prepared according to the autograph, but entries for certain dates known only from typewriting are also included in the main text of the diary, and all discrepancies are given in footnotes. The article gives examples of all types of discrepancies. The developed method of preparing the text of the 1919 diary addresses the main textological task — to present Vera Muromtseva-Bunina’s diary for that year in a unified chronological sequence and in its integrity.

Vera Muromtseva-Bunina Ivan Bunin diary textual criticism choice of the main text

2026

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