E.F. Korsh’s Notes to the Russian Translation of A. Trendelenburg’s “Logical Investigations”

The role of translation in the history of philosophy is indisputable – from Cicero’s Latin adaptations of Plato to Marius Victorinus’ translations of Plotinus, which were essential for the development of Augustine’s thought, and extending to the practices of the present day. However, in the context of 19th–20th century Russian philosophy, translation – despite its recognized significance – has at­tracted relatively little scholarly attention, typically centered on a few well-known figures. This paper examines a particularly explicit case: the notes and commentaries written by the Russian intellectual E.F. Korsh accompanying his 1868 translation of Adolf Trendelenburg’s “Logical Investigations”. An analysis of Korsh’s annotations reveals their importance for understanding both the broader philosophical context and the translator’s assumptions (Korsh being not only a philosopher but also a key participant in K.T. Soldatenkov’s major publishing initiative) about the presumed reader and his level of philosophical literacy. The study highlights the heterogeneous nature of Korsh’s com­mentary and offers a situational typology, ranging from “lexical” notes that clarify potentially unfa­miliar words or phrases to a few polemical comments in which Korsh expresses disagreement with the author. Of particular interest are the annotations that attempt to “translate” the original philosoph­ical idiom into a conceptual language more accessible to a Russian readership of the 1860s – thus en­acting a reverse process, drawing the reader into a form of expression initially foreign to them.