Principles of creating an electronic catalog of graphics based on the manuscripts of F. M. Dostoevsky

The article substantiates the principles of studying the graphic content of Dostoevsky’s handwritten texts and creating an electronic catalog of graphic samples that would include the most representative examples of the writer’s handwriting and their scientific description. The research material is Dostoevsky’s workbooks, which include entries of various kinds: rough sketches for artistic and journalistic ideas, letter drafts, notes for memory, addresses, calculations related to household and editorial and publishing needs. The variety of the material under study allows us to collect more informative and complete data on the specifics of graphic characteristics in the writer’s texts. The analysis and systematization of handwriting features, typical and atypical handwriting, are productive in deciphering the so-called “difficult readings” and are important for understanding the semantic context of Dostoevsky’s recordings, in some cases allowing to clarify important factual information. The practical value of the research lies in the possibility of using the data obtained in the study of hard-to-read handwriting, illegible spellings, as well as in the analysis of non-verbal forms of Dostoevsky’s graphics and their role in the creative process of the author. To solve these problems, a special toolkit has been developed that allows for the research selection of graphic images and their description.