In Memory of Sergei Iosifovich Gindin (1945–2024)

The article makes an attempt to trace the history of the participation of the critic Yu.I. Aikhenvald in the Collected Works of A.S. Pushkin, ed. S.A. Vengerov. Aikhenvald’s letters to Vengerov, stored in the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as draft letters to the critic for 1907–1908, contained in Vengerov’s Office Book, are analyzed. In the Collected Works of Pushkin, only 2 essays by Aikhenvald were published – about “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” and about “Poltava” – although another essay about “Gypsies” was sent, and it was assumed that the critic would provide another essay about “Mozart and Salieri” and about “A stingy knight”. It is concluded that it was the work on the essays in the Collected Works of Pushkin that gave Aikhenvald the idea of including chapters on Pushkin’s works in the 2nd edition of the I Issue of “Silhouettes of Russian Writers”. It was the work on the reissue of “Silhouettes...” and the release of this collection in the fall of 1908 that did not allow Aikhenvald to continue participating in the Collected Works of Pushkin. The Appendix publishes a number of letters from Aikhenvald and some editions of letters from Vengerov’s Office Book concerning the history of the critic’s participation in this publication. Two letters from Aikhenvald to Vengerov, written after the appearance of Vengerov’s article “Critic-Impressionist” (1910), are also published.