I was utterly astonished… It is difficult to imagine the extent of the enthusiasm, the people’s adoration for our greatest writer, this magical name was a luminary in the imagination of all Russians, particularly for our youth.” Later, Vladimir Sollogub writes, “Pushkin and I maintained a close friendship… He was particularly fond of me. He supported my early literary endeavors, offered advice, read his own poems, and was exceedingly supportive, despite our age difference. Almost every day, we would go for a stroll around the market, purchase loaves of bread, and then, returning along Nevsky Prospekt, we would offer the bread to well-dressed dandies who fled from us in fear. In the evenings, we would meet at the homes of Karamzin, Vyazemsky, Prince Odoyevsky, and at social gatherings. I cannot forgive myself for not recording every single conversation I had with him.

Pushkin found himself in an environment where he could not but feel superior, yet at the same time, he felt almost continuously humiliated, both in terms of wealth and significance in this aristocratic world… Our society functions in such a manner that the most prominent artist, lacking official status, is placed lower than the lowest clerk… For this reason, he also demonstrated a clear disregard for certain societal conventions: he did not adhere to fashion and attended balls wearing a black bow tie, a double-breasted waistcoat, with a turndown collar that was not starched.