SOURCE: Kovarsky, N. “The Early Bestuzhev-Marlinsky.” In Russian Prose, edited by B. M. Eikhenbaum and Yury Tynyanov, translated and edited by Ray Parrott, pp. 109-26. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1985.

In the following essay, Kovarsky studies Bestuzhev's prolific literary output during the 1820s.

A. A. Bestuzhev begins his literary activity at the onset of the 1820s, indeed even earlier. A project related to this early period is the publication of a journal with the characteristic title Zimtserl (compare the attraction for all sorts of ancient Russian mythological names in sentimental-historical tales, such as in Narezhny's Slovenian Evenings [Slovenskie vechera]). The journal, however, was not approved by the censor and, apparently, even the first number was not prepared.

Bestuzhev publishes a great deal in the 1820s and, moreover, in the most diverse journals: in The Loyalist [Blagonamerennyi]; The Champion of Enlightenment and Philanthropy [Sorevnovatel' Prosveshcheniia i Blagotvoreniia]; Bulgarin's Literary Leaflets [Literaturnye...