The note by Yu. A. Ivanov “The unpublished verse of F. M. Dostoevsky”

This article contains the first publication and analyses of the note made by Yu. A. Ivanov, great-nephew of Feodor Dostoevsky, dedicated to the writer’s satirical extempore verse aimed at Lyublino merchants Konon Nikonovich Golofteev and Pyotr Nikolaevich Rakhmanin. Their true full names are confirmed by information from reference books; the mistake of the memory of the writer’s niece Maria Ivanova is spotted. Two editions of this verse are put in comparison, they have a common source of data - the information obtained from M. Ivanova. The first edition was written by V. S. Nechaeva and it was published in 1926, the second one is contained in the article by Yu. A. Ivanov, written within the period from 1933 to 1936 and kept in The Russian State Archive of Literature and Arts. The research paper reveals some factual mistakes made by Yu. A. Ivanov, thus testifying in favor of the greater reliability of the verse version published by V. S. Nechaeva; it is assumed that Y. A. Ivanov wrote this note because of the appeal of Bonch-Bruevich, organizer of the Literary Museum, in the summer of 1934. The data provided by Yu. A. Ivanov raised doubts of researchers because of the secondary nature of the data and the presence of factual errors in them. As a result, the text remained unpublished. Despite these circumstances, the note by Y. A. Ivanova is of some historical and literary value.