From history of Pavel Annenkov’s publications in "Vestnik Evropy" (Herald of Europe) (by the letters to Mikhail Stasyulevich)

The article describes the history of two Pavel Annenkov’s publications in the magazine "Vestnik Evropy" (Herald of Europe) ("The Extraordinary Decade", "The Idealists of the 1830s"), according to his letters to the editor; defi nes more precisely the facts of the preparation of the memoirs "Gogol in Rome at the Summer of the Year 1841" for the fi rst book "Memoirs and Critical Essays" in Mikhail Stasyulevich’s publishing house. Special attention is paid to the new details of the creative history of the memoirs "The Extraordinary Decade" by Pavel Annenkov’s letters to Mikhail Stasyulevich. The article tells about Vissarion Belinsky’s role in the memoir’s structure and about the features of the narration, originated from oral materials, and the difference between this book and Alexander Pypin’s biography of Vissarion Belinsky. The analysis of Pavel Annenkov’s article "The Idealists of the 1830s" brightened up the meaning of the mystical romantic ideals of young Alexander Herzen in his future. The comparison of two texts about Alexander Herzen during the years of emigration lets understanding the difference between a memoir and an essay.