“…Nikon Got Up and Walked Across Red Square to Ilyinka Again”: Historical Sources of L. N. Tolstoy’s Notes About Patriarch Nikon in the Materials for <A Novel from the Time of Peter I>

Abstract

The article examines five Tolstoy recordings dedicated to Patriarch Nikon, which are part of the preparatory materials for the unfinished “Novel from the Time of Peter I,” and the historical sources of four recordings from these materials. The author introduces information about the factual sources of the three records into scientific circulation. The article considers the source of one entry, previously established by P. S. Popov, along with newly identified sources. Established historical record sources Tolstoy’s stories about Patriarch Nikon reveal the meaning of Tolstoy’s laconic extracts from historical writings; they allow us to find out which actual events from the life of Patriarch Nikon and his supporters and opponents were selected by the writer for the documentary basis of the fictional novel. The identified sources expand the understanding of the novel’s concept, its documentary basis, and the possible range of actors; they allow us to detect traces of the writer’s creative work with historical material; they supplement the list of previously identified sources of Tolstoy’s recordings with new titles.

Keywords

• l. n. tolstoy
• preparatory materials
• summary records
• factual sources
• patriarch nikon
• i. e. zabelin
• s. m. solovyov
• p. s. popov