Essays by Ostrovsky

In mid-February 1847, Alexander Nikolayevich Ostrovsky read his play "A Picture of Family Life" to friends gathered at his home, after which the prominent critic, dean of Moscow University, and academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences Stepan Petrovich Shevyryov solemnly congratulated those present on the emergence of a new dramatic star in Russian literature. Ostrovsky was twenty-four years old at that time. The future great playwright had little literary experience, but he had work in Moscow courts behind him, which provided excellent material for a budding writer. Three years later, the text of Ostrovsky's play "We Are Our Own People — Let's Count!" was published in the magazine "Moskvityanin", and this publication brought Alexander Nikolayevich wide recognition — his talent became evident to all. This collection includes works written by Ostrovsky before his plays began to be regularly staged at the Moscow Maly Theater and the Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater.

The publication is adorned with magnificent illustrations by Pyotr Mikhailovich Boklevsky (1816-1897). He was a master of portrait drawing. His talent to convey not only external resemblance but also the inner essence of a person shone particularly brightly when the artist viewed the life around him through the eyes of a satirist. He inherited his love for drawing from his mother, who confidently mastered the technique of watercolor. In his youth, working with pencil and brush was a pastime for Boklevsky. After graduating from the Ryazan gymnasium in 1834, he studied for six years at Moscow University, and then served as a gubernatorial secretary in Ryazan. However, his passion for art never left him. Pyotr Mikhailovich attended classes at the Academy of Arts taught by Bryullov with his students. In 1852, the Academy awarded Boklevsky the title of "free artist in portrait watercolor painting", and since then portraiture became his main occupation in life. However, he gained fame primarily as a satirical illustrator. The characters he created from the works of Gogol or Ostrovsky were so vivid and expressive that many actors, for example, when playing Chichikov or Nozdrev, would apply makeup "in the manner of Boklevsky". Lithographs and drawings by Pyotr Mikhailovich for Ostrovsky's works were published in separate issues. By the end of 1860, six such albums had been released. Later, a separate edition titled "Album of Gogol's Types" was also published. Boklevsky illustrated works by Griboedov, Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and towards the end of his life, he worked on character types for Dostoevsky.