Chapter I: Front Matter

STAVROGIN’S CONFESSION

AND

THE PLAN OF

THE LIFE OF A GREAT SINNER

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F. M. DOSTOEVSKY

STAVROGIN’S CONFESSION
AND
THE PLAN OF
THE LIFE OF A GREAT SINNER

WITH INTRODUCTORY AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

TRANSLATED BY

S. S. KOTELIANSKY AND VIRGINIA WOOLF

PUBLISHED BY LEONARD & VIRGINIA WOOLF AT
THE HOGARTH PRESS, PARADISE ROAD, RICHMOND
1922

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All rights reserved

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TRANSLATORS’ NOTE

THE Russian Government has recently published a small paper-covered book containing _Stavrogin’s Confession_, unpublished chapters of Dostoevsky’s novel _The Possessed_, and Dostoevsky’s plan or sketch of a novel which he never actually wrote but which he called _The Life of a Great Sinner_. The circumstances in which these MSS. were discovered are described in the note of the Russian Government which we give below. Our translation of _Stavrogin’s Confession_ and of the plan is from the text as published by the Russian Government. We have added translations of introductory or explanatory notes upon the two MSS. by V. Friche, V. Komarovich, and N. Brodsky. The notes by Friche and Komarovich are given in the book published by the Russian Government, that by M. Komarovich appeared in _Builoe_ (No. 18, 1922).

It should be added that there are two different versions of the unpublished chapters of _The Possessed_ in existence, and they have both been published for the first time this year. The second version, which is in the Pushkin Department of the Russian Academy of Sciences, was published in _Builoe_. We have not included it, since it appears to be an earlier version than that published by the Russian Government. It should be noted that M. Komarovich’s note refers to this version in the Academy of Sciences.

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CONTENTS

PAGE

TRANSLATORS’ NOTE 5

NEW MSS. OF F. M. DOSTOEVSKY: NOTE BY THE RUSSIAN 9
GOVERNMENT

STAVROGIN’S CONFESSION. BY F. M. DOSTOEVSKY 17

THE PLAN OF _THE LIFE OF A GREAT SINNER_. BY F. M. 85
DOSTOEVSKY

STAVROGIN’S MEETING WITH TIKHON. BY V. FRICHE 115