“Wallpaper ruined it all” (Nikolay Gumilev’s Book of Poems Submitted for the Pushkin Prize)

Abstract

The article tells about the book “Romantic flowers” by N. Gumilev housed in the library of the Pushkin House. The book was submitted for the Pushkin prize competition of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1909. The book review, which was to be written by A.F. Koni, hasn’t been found; however, the copy contains marginalia, probably made by the reviewer, showing the attitude of a contemporary reader to the Modernist book. The article considers the reasons why Gumilev failed to win the prize.

Keywords

• n. gumilev
• “romantic flowers”
• a.f. koni
• marginalia