In 1917, the Simbirsk Scientific Archive Committee museum received a hand-written book with a brown leather grained cover and a fragment of a copper loop-shaped clasp. It was donated by Goncharov’s nephew Alexander Goncharov.
The book was nicknamed as the Goncharov family chronicle. Such hand-written diaries were called “home chronographs” and were kept in many families. They described important events, recorded information about new-born children, baptisms and weddings, as well as contained philosophical notes and excerpts from religious texts.
This chronicle was started by the writer’s grandfather who was also called Ivan Goncharov. In 1728, he finished copying out the medieval Russian story “The Passion of Christ” from an unknown source and started writing down “The Tale of the Godson”.
At first, Goncharov’s grandfather copied excerpts from religious texts. Later he started to write down parts of the famous 17th century Russian letopis (collection of annual records) “Moscow Svod”. The first entries in the family chronicle were made only in 1733, as Goncharov recorded, among other things, his moving up through the ranks — from a records clerk to a captain.
After Ivan Goncharov died, the chronicle passed on to his son Alexander Goncharov, the father of the writer Ivan Goncharov. There was no chronological order, rather the entries were made on pages with some blank spaces. That was the reason why, during the restoration process of the book, the original order of the pages was lost, for neither the authors, nor the archive employees had numbered them.
The chronicle has an entry concerning the birth of Ivan Goncharov. His father wrote,
The book was nicknamed as the Goncharov family chronicle. Such hand-written diaries were called “home chronographs” and were kept in many families. They described important events, recorded information about new-born children, baptisms and weddings, as well as contained philosophical notes and excerpts from religious texts.
This chronicle was started by the writer’s grandfather who was also called Ivan Goncharov. In 1728, he finished copying out the medieval Russian story “The Passion of Christ” from an unknown source and started writing down “The Tale of the Godson”.
At first, Goncharov’s grandfather copied excerpts from religious texts. Later he started to write down parts of the famous 17th century Russian letopis (collection of annual records) “Moscow Svod”. The first entries in the family chronicle were made only in 1733, as Goncharov recorded, among other things, his moving up through the ranks — from a records clerk to a captain.
After Ivan Goncharov died, the chronicle passed on to his son Alexander Goncharov, the father of the writer Ivan Goncharov. There was no chronological order, rather the entries were made on pages with some blank spaces. That was the reason why, during the restoration process of the book, the original order of the pages was lost, for neither the authors, nor the archive employees had numbered them.
The chronicle has an entry concerning the birth of Ivan Goncharov. His father wrote,
