Mystics of the Baha’i and L.N. Tolstoy in the Light of the New Archival Materials: Pro Et Contra

The article firstly presents new archival materials – correspondence between O.S. Lebedeva, M. Thornburg-Cropper, Riza Khan, and Mirza A. Mamedkhanly (Mamedkhanov) with L.N. Tolstoy, allowing for a more complete elucidation of little-known aspects of the writer’s interactions with representatives of the Baha’i Faith. The aim of research is an introduction to the scientific discourse of the new materials and the analysis of the archival documents for the rectification of the chronology. Methods of the research: diachronic and retrospective analysis, textual analysis, hermeneutic method. Materials of the research: unpublished letters of the Baha’i to L.N. Tolstoy. Analysis of the Baha’i letters to L.N. Tolstoy and his answers reveal the context of their correspondence and his attitude to the ethic and theological aspects of the Baha’i Faith. The research resulted with the rectification of chronology and conclusion: L.N. Tolstoy continued correspondence and polemics with the Baha’i in 1910 (Y. Kan, P. Polizoidi, A. Kasimov, A. Mamedhanly) after reading W. James’ book The Variety of Religious Experience in December 1909.