Dostoevsky in a Free Application: the Publishing Project of Adolf Marx in the Notebooks of Anna Dostoevskaya

The publication of the Complete Works of F. M. Dostoevsky became the main deed of his widow. Over the course of 10 years, book publication has been stable and profitable for the writer’s family. In 1893, the publisher of the weekly “Niva,” A. F. Marx, offered Anna Grigoryevna to sell him the literary rights to Dostoevsky’s works for printing them as a free supplement to his magazine. Dostoevskaya devoted a chapter of published memoirs to this transaction, but her unpublished notebooks contain additional information about both the external side of the agreement with Marx (lists, dates, notes) and the inner world of the publisher during this period (memories, experiences, doubts, comments). This article introduces into scientific circulation the materials of A. G. Dostoevskaya’s notebooks about family meetings about the sale of literary rights, details and curious stories related to the signing of an agreement with Marx. Ultimately, the deal with Marx was not as profitable as it seemed at first. It divided the publishing activities of the writer’s widow into “before” and “after” the contract: the time after the return of copyright was marked by a sharp decline in demand for Dostoevsky’s works due to the surplus of the Complete works of the Marx publishing house on the book market. The contract with “Niva’s” publisher turned out to be one of the essential circumstances in the process of termination of A. G. Dostoevskaya’s publishing activities in 1910. Despite the adverse consequences of the deal with Marx for the Dostoevsky family's book business, the writer’s widow remained friendly with “Niva’s” publisher, as evidenced by the documents provided in the article: her letter to him about the donation and publication of three letters from Dostoevsky to his brother Mikhail, as well as the mentions of the name of Marx and his publications in notebooks.