Public-domain ebook
The Life of Tolstoy: First Fifty Years Fifth Edition
by Aylmer Maude
Language: en1,281 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Biographies·Russian Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #52242.
About this book
The work is a biographical study of Leo Tolstoy that begins with a straightforward statement of purpose: the author, Aylmer Maude, writes because “so many among us are interested in Tolstoy and so few seem to understand him.” Maude backs his claim to authority with a résumé of personal experience, twenty‑three years living in Russia, frequent visits to Tolstoy in Moscow and at Yásnaya Polyána, translation work, participation in a failed “Tolstoy” colony, and even a mission to Canada at Tolstoy’s request. He emphasizes impartiality, noting that his Western perspective allows him to spot “holes” in Tolstoy’s principles. The opening also explains the book’s editorial choices: quotations are kept in Tolstoy’s own words, brief clarifications appear in square brackets, and extensive footnotes are avoided. A detailed contents list follows, outlining a chronological narrative that starts with Tolstoy’s ancestry and proceeds through his youth, military service, travels, marriage, and early literary output.
The voice is that of a learned, early‑20th‑century scholar who blends personal anecdote with meticulous documentation. Maude’s prose is formal yet conversational, peppered with footnote‑style asides and a careful guide to Russian name pronunciation, reflecting the scholarly conventions of his era. Readers who appreciate a historically grounded portrait, especially those interested in Russian aristocratic culture, the literary milieu of the 19th century, or the interplay between Tolstoy’s private life and public ideas, will find this detailed, source‑rich narrative engaging.
Who appears in The Life of Tolstoy
- Leo TolstoyMiddle‑aged Russian aristocrat, dark hair, full beard, high‑collared coat, solemn expression
- Aylmer MaudeLate‑Victorian British gentleman, trimmed beard, spectacles, waistcoat, pocket watch, thoughtful gaze
The opening · free to read
THE reason I have written this work is because so many among us are interested in Tolstoy and so few seem to understand him. It would seem therefore that an English Life of Tolstoy is needed, and having lived in Russia for twenty-three years, known Tolstoy well for several years, visited him frequently in Moscow, and stayed with him repeatedly at Yásnaya Polyána, I am perhaps as well qualified as any one to write it, especially as I have long made a careful study of his views. My wife and I have translated several of his works, have known people closely connected with him, and some ten years ago we took part in an unsuccessful 'Tolstoy' Colony; besides which I went to Canada at his wish to make arrangements for the Doukhobór migration, of which I subsequently wrote the history.
Moreover, I am impartial. That is to say, I have taken pains to understand Tolstoy's views, and to see the good there is in them; but being a Westerner, I see also certain things Tolstoy overlooks, and I know that these things knock big holes in some of his most cherished 'principles.'
The book has had the great advantage of being carefully revised by his wife, the Countess S. A. Tolstoy, who both verbally and in writing has rendered me most valuable assistance.
I owe sincere thanks also to my friend P. I. Birukóf, Tolstoy's Russian biographer. He modestly speaks of his own work as 'a collection of those materials for the biography of Leo Tolstoy which are accessible to me.' I have no hesitation in saying that his care and integrity in gathering and using those materials, entitle him to the gratitude of all who deal with the same subject.
There is one small matter of typography which needs a word of explanation. I have sought to tell as much of the story as possible in Tolstoy's own words, and have also had occasion to quote other writers. At times the Russian text quoted contains allusions or expressions which might perplex an English reader unless a word or two of explanation were added. To introduce paragraphs of explanation would interrupt the narrative, besides lengthening the book. To have recourse to frequent footnotes in cases where two or three words of explanation are all that is required is unsightly and unsatisfactory; so I have adopted the plan of using square brackets [ ] to enclose such explanations. The ordinary round parentheses ( ) I have kept for their common use, and for cases where, for clearness' sake, words are added that are not contained in the original.
Beyond indicating the varying value of sums of money mentioned, I have not troubled the reader with the fluctuations of the rouble, which went from over 38 pence before the Crimean war, to 19 pence after the Russo-Turkish war of 1878. If he wants a concise history of the Russian currency, he can find it in the preface to my edition of Sevastopol.
In that as in other matters I have tried to be accurate without being pedantic. It is Tolstoy and his views that I aim at presenting to English readers; and I have kept in the background, as far as I could, the obstacles resulting from the Tower of Babel.
AYLMER MAUDE.
GREAT BADDOW, CHELMSFORD, 20th August 1910.
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