The Italian Events of 1867 in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Calligraphic Sketches: Based on Newspaper Chronicles

Abstract

The paper examines the calligraphic sketches contained in Dostoevsky’s workbooks with entries for 1867: mentions in calligraphy of the name Garibaldi, as well as Italian toponyms (Acquapendente, Viterbo, Monterotondo, Roma, Tivoli, Frosinone). The analysis of the semantic context formed by these and other calligraphies (inscriptions with the names of Roman Caesars, King of Italy Victor Emmanuel II, Pope Pius IX, etc.) reveals the influence on these records of newspaper periodicals, which widely covered the events of the Risorgimento at that time and attracted the attention of Dostoevsky, as follows from documentary evidence. The context revealed by these calligraphic notes indicates thematic connections between Dostoevsky’s notes of the 1860s, his novels and the future Diary of a Writer.

Keywords

• dostoevsky
• notebooks
• calligraphy
• italy
• risorgimento
• giuseppe garibaldi
• pius ix
• napoleon iii
• victor emmanuel ii