1 Yershov, Peter, Letters of Gorky and Leonid Andreev, 1899-1912 , with an introduction and notes by the author, translated by Lydia Weston (New York, Columbia University Press, 1958)Google Scholar. Many of these letters have been culled from recent Soviet sources (see loc. cit., p. 3, note 1). It will henceforth be referred to as Tershov.

2 Issued by Sovetskij pisatel' (Moscow). The work of selecting, editing and annotating the letters was carried out by a committee appointed by the Union of Soviet Writers. They used as their basis the 30 volume edition of Gorky's works (Moscow: Gosizdat', 1949-55). Most of the letters addressed to Piatnitsky appearing in Pis'ma o literature, as well as other letters and also telegrams, have been previously published (in 1954, Vol. IV of the Collected Works) under the title of A. M. Gorkij, pis'ma Konstantinu Petrovichu Pjatnitskomu, edited by E. N. Uspenskij and A. A. Zaburova. However, the newer issue of Gorky's letters contains many corrections, as well as a more thorough exegesis. I t may therefore be regarded as more authoritative. Henceforth, it will be referred to as Pis'ma.

3 On July 27-28, 1902, Gorky wrote to Piatnitsky from Arsamas: “Leonid expressed his firm determination to become partners in znanie; to help him in this matter and do it as soon as possible.” (Pis'ma, p. 90). In the present article, all dates given are New Style. It should also be noted that before 1912 Gorky rarely dated his letters. Piatnitsky usually entered the date of communications addressed to him by the writer, or else numbered them chronologically. (See, Pis'ma Konstatinu Petrovichu Pjatnitskomu, Introduction, p. 7).

4 In a letter written August 7 or 8, 1900, Gorky states: “ I have long wanted to tell you, dear Konstantin Petrovich, that I am pleased and very happy indeed that it is precisely with you, with znanie, that I have arranged to have my books published. I am firmly convinced that you and I will become even closer and that we will be friends both in spirit and outlook on life.” (Pis'ma, pp. 46-47).

5 Thus he states in a letter to Pjatnitsky written October 26 or 30, 1901, “This Leonid— what a splendid fellow. And the story he has started [The Wall], isn't it just wonderful! … I know Andreev is a real writer, he has not only talent—which I have—but also brains, which I lack by nature. Leonid Andreev—that's a great man for you“! (Pis'ma, p. 63).

6 Reminiscences of Leo Tolstoy, Anton Chekhov and Leonid Andreev, English edition, (New York: Dover Publications, 1946), pp. 185-86 (passim). It will henceforth be referred to as Reminiscences.

7 Pis'ma, p. 141.

8 Meant is the Social-Revolutionary P. M. Rutenberg, one of the organizers of the murder of Father Gapon who had been suspected of collaborating with the Okhrana. Rutenberg was in Capri during the time of Andreev's visit, hiding under an alias. Gorki tells his story, which formed the basis of Andreev's Darkness, in his Reminiscences of Leonid Andreev (op. cit., p. 180). In view of the crassness of his attack on Rutenberg in the above letter to Piatnitsky, it may be interesting to note the reference to him in the Reminiscences which reads as follows: “The hero of that episode was an old acquaintance of mine, a revolutionary” (ibid).

9 The “charge” of sickness was a favorite one with Gorky. When applied to Andreev, he even included the latter's family in his insinuations. In a letter to the writer Tikhonov, stemming from the years 1907 or 1908, he declares: “You know that people with poor hereditary antecedents, that is so-called degenerates, often suffer this kind of disease [i.e., rupture of the blood-vessels]. Sometimes they die ot it, as did the sister of L. Andreev.” (Pis'ma, p. 167). Readers of Gorky's works will recall instances of his glorification of physical vigor at the expense of debility, such as occurs in his early story On the Rafts, and elsewhere.

10 The references are to the short story Darkness, published in this issue of Shipovnik, and The Abyss, published elsewhere; the latter pictured the participation of a student in the rape of his beloved. The second story, appearing along with Darkness, in the Znanie issue in question, was entitled The Curse of the Beast; it must have exasperated Gorky by its gloomily pessimistic outlook. In his letter to Piatnitsky, he calls this work “hackneyed and poorly written.” (Pis'ma, p 144).

11 Cf. Reminiscences (p. 186): “Difference of opinions ought not to affect sympathies; I never gave theories and opinions a prominent place in my relations with people.“

12 Pis'ma K. P. Pjatnitskomu, p. 265.

13 Op. cit., p. 182, letter 86, note 23.

14 Letter to M. M. Kocjubinskij from Capri, dated September 28, 1909. (Pis'ma, p. 174).

15 Letter to S. I. Jakhontov, end of 1909 (Pis'ma, p. 180).

16 In a letter written in July, 1912, Gorky writes to Kuprin: “Won't you please., stop at this quiet island of Capri for a bit of fishing with the local fishermen: I, as well as many other Russians, would receive you with open arms.” (Pis'ma, p. 229). In his letters to Piatnitsky in 1907 and 1908, Gorky usually refers to him as “blockhead” (bolvan) or “rotter” (podlec). On April 17, 1908, he had written to Piatnitsky: “I am fully convinced that there is no place for Kuprin on Znanie” (Pis'ma K. P. Pjatnitskomu, p. 246). The above letter, therefore, represents an extreme change of front.

17 Yershov, p. 132.

18 Alexander Kaun, Gorky and his Russia, (New York, 1931) p. 430.

19 Gorky himself notes that during their discussion at Capri, where the entire controversy started, Andreev maintained his right to treat any subject as he saw fit. “He reminded me of the freedom of the artist,” Gorky states in his Reminiscences (p. 181).

20 Yershov, p. 123.

21 Alexander Kaun, Leonid Andreev, a Critical Study (New York, 1924) p. 164, note 64.

22 Ibid., p. 163.

23 It may be interesting to note in this connection that in his very last message to Piatnitsky, written on October 19, 1925, Gorky asks specifically: “You must have in your possession some of my papers, letters from writers, for example those of L. N. Andreev . . If so, please give them to the bearer” (Pis'ma K. P. Pjatnicomu p. 454).