SHE WAS ONE OF THE BENEFICENT BEINGS FOR MY SOUL", (ABOUT N.M. KARAMZIN'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE GRAND DUCHESS cATHERINE PAVLOVNA)

Abstract

N.M. Karamzin's epistolary heritage is an insufficiently explored but very important part of his legacy. His eight yearlong (1810-1818) correspondence with Catherine Pavlovna, Tsar Alexander I's sister, can be regarded as a source of information on his political, moral and philosophical views. The letters reflected the change in Karamzin's world outlook: from hopes for a “gentle alliance of feelings and universal welfare" he went to the idea of the incomprehensibility of history laws, to the expectation of awakening from the “life of dream" and revival in a different world. The “Note on Ancient and Modern Russia", created by the Grand Duchess' call, as well as the album made up for her with excerpts from European thinkers' works on the matters of governmental system and public morality, show that the study of Karamzin's letters in terms of addressing should be supplemented by the study of the historical and literary context. The documents being studied give evidence to the internal state of the Russian society in one of the most dramatic moments in its history (1810-1820).