The exhibition presents the edition of Dostoevsky’s novel Memoirs from the House of The Dead. Part Two. Hardbound, fabric cover, press gilding.
This was the first lifetime publication of the novel as a separate book. For the first time, the Memoirs appeared (Chapters 1 through 4) in the RUsskiy Mir (literally: Russian World) newspaper. The full novel was published in the VrEmya (literally: Time) magazine, owned by the Dostoevsky brothers, in 1861–1862. In January 1862, the printing house of Edward Pratz released Part One of the novel as a standalone book, while Part Two was published in Vremya. In late 1862, finally, JozafAt OhrYzko’s Printing House published both parts of the novel as a standalone book. The title page said it was the second edition. However, it was actually the first time the novel was fully published as a book.
Memoirs from the House of The Dead were inspired by Dostoevsky’s imprisonment in the Omsk Fortress between 1850 and 1854. In the novel, the writer artistically reinterpreted all that he had witnessed and gone through over his four-year Omsk exile with regard to the case of the PetrashEvsky Circle. This was the name of the literary discussion group organized by Mikhail Butashevich-Petrashevsky. Not all of them were revolutionaries. Some studied 19th-century utopian socialism. Most were convicted of dissemination of the text of BelInsky’s letter to Gogol or/and misprision of the group’s gatherings.
Memoirs from the House of the Dead gained incredible success. After they were released, Dostoevsky was once again spoken of as a talented writer. During his lifetime, the novel was reprinted several times. Each time, all the copies were sold out instantly.
