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Dmitrievich, 1740 - 1793) - a wonderful writer. There is very little information about his life. In the preface to the 2nd edition of his Notes on Economics, it is said that Ch. "studied at Moscow University as a child and, having studied only one elementary basis of the verbal sciences, was taken from it with others by a memorable decree and assigned to the service." To these data we can only add that in 1790 Ch. was a court adviser and secretary of the Senate. From early youth, he was distinguished by an extraordinary love of literature and "wrote almost incessantly works of all kinds." Ch. was one of the most prolific and versatile writers of the XVIII century, and not untalented. Metropolitan Eugene testifies that Ch. "about 20 years of his age (hence in 1760) already distinguished himself by many hefty poems and novels." Ch.'s first experiments remain unknown to us; we only know that in 1767 he published a "Short Mythological Lexicon", yes, according to Sopikov, in 1766-1768. published in 4 parts "Mockingbird, or Slavic Tales" (Eugene indicates only one second edition, 1783 - 1789). In the first period of his activity Ch. felt a penchant for fiction and satire. In the era of satirical magazines, Ch. published two small satirical magazines: Both this and that (1769) and The Parnassian Scribbler (1770), in which there are many traces of a polemical struggle with literary opponents: the novelist F.A. Emin and V.I. Maikov. He also ridiculed them in the satirical poem "The Lamentable Fall of the Poets" (subsequently, this poem was published as a separate book in St. During the period of fascination with satire, Ch. published the first (no longer) part of the unusually popular among our ancestors novel, A Handsome Cook, or The Adventures of a Depraved Woman (Part I, St. Petersburg, 1770). In its outward plot, it is a relic of French adventure novels; the types displayed in the novel (Ahal's suitor, Sveton, secretary) are often found in satirical magazines. It must be assumed that the atmosphere of Ch.'s life contributed to the emergence in him of a tendency to study songs, fairy tales, rituals and folk superstitions. In his journals noteworthy are the style, the abundance of proverbs and sayings approaching folk, and frequent ethnographic notes, folk songs. After the publication of journals, Ch. turns to large consolidated works of an ethnographic nature. The first such work was "Collection of various songs". We know that the first two parts of this collection were printed by order of Empress Catherine II and were ready in 1776 (the indication given everywhere that the collection of Ch.'s songs in 4 parts was printed in 1770 - 1775 is incorrect , because on July 19, 1776, Ch. petitioned for permission from the empress to print the remaining parts of the collection; see "Archive of the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres", section II, p. 101, St. Petersburg, 1892). The first edition of the songs, made by Ch. with the collaboration of Mikhail Popov, is not currently found and we know about it only from subsequent ones. The second edition was made by N.I. Novikov in 1780 - 1781; it was supplemented by two parts and is known in literature as "Novikov's Songbook" ("A new and complete collection of Russian songs, containing love songs, shepherd's, playful, folk songs, choral wedding, Yuletide, with the addition of songs from various Russian operas and comedies" ; subsequently reprinted). Ch. entered into his collection not only folk songs, which, one might guess, he did not write down from words, but copied from literate notebooks, but also fashionable romances by contemporary authors and arias from comic operas. The value of Ch.'s collection is great: before him such a wealth of folk songs did not appear, and he was the first to print songs without changes and amendments in style. Ch. has a place of honor in the history of the study of the Russian people. Collecting songs to his contemporaries seemed at least a completely unnecessary, if not harmful thing: even Metropolitan Platon spoke about the songs republished by N.I. Novikov, as "about dubious". In 1780, Ch. began a new ethnographic collection, much lower in its scientific value. In 1780 - 1783. Novikov's university printing house printed in 10 parts "Russian fairy tales containing ancient stories about glorious heroes, folk tales and other adventures remaining through retelling in memory." Ch. was distinguished by a great love for the monuments of folk art, but did not have an ethnographic understanding, which, however, had not yet taken root at that time; he considered it quite possible to deal with epics and folk stories at his own discretion. None of those stories "that are told in the tavern" are not brought by him in their original form: he changed, reworked, supplemented them according to chivalric novels, according to editions of the Bibliotheque bleue. In 1782, his "Dictionary of Russian Superstitions" was published, which was republished in 1786 under the title: "Abevega of Russian superstitions, idolatry, sacrifices, wedding, common folk rites, witchcraft, shamanism, and so on." For its time, it was a remarkable ethnographic work, which A.N. Afanasiev in his Poetic Views of the Slavs on Nature. Ch. moved from ethnography to industrial history and jurisprudence. The works of Ch. on the history of trade are still completely unappreciated. He wrote and, at the behest of the Empress, at the expense of her cabinet, published a huge "Historical Description of Russian Commerce at All Ports and Borders from Ancient Times to the Present, and All Advantages, Laws, etc." (Moscow, 1781 - 1788, 7 parts, in 21 volumes; the greatest bibliographic rarity). Ch.'s work is based on the study of archival materials and is of great importance for the history of our commercial legislation. In 1788, an extract from this work appeared: "A Brief History of Russian Trade" (Moscow). From the "Description" are extracted "Dictionary of fairs established in Russia, published for circulation in trade" (Moscow, 1788) and "Instruction is necessary for merchants, and especially for young people" (Moscow, 1788). The field of practical economy includes "Economic Notes for the Everlasting Execution in the Villages to the Bailiff and the Prudent Economist" (Moscow, 1788, 2nd edition, 1790). Ch. was one of the first to come up with the idea of popularizing Russian laws and publishing a legal reference book. In 1791 - 1792 his "Legal Dictionary, or the Code of Russian Laws, Temporary Institutions of Court and Punishment" was published in 5 books. In the first part, the legalizations were arranged in alphabetical order, in the second - in chronological order, from the Code to 1790 (the first part was republished in Novgorod in 1796). Then Ch. began the "Rural Medical Book, or the Dictionary of Healing Diseases that occur in the human race, in the cattle race and domestic birds" (during Ch.'s lifetime, it was published in Moscow, in 1789 - 90, 4 parts; after his death, in 1803, 5th came out). Other published works of Ch.: "The Adventure of Achilles under the name of Pyrrhus before the siege of Troy" (St. Petersburg, 1709, 2nd edition, Moscow, 1788, according to Sopikov); "Oberon, Wieland's poem in 14 songs" (translated from German, Moscow, 1787); "Arrangement in verse of a prose translation from French of Petrarch's letters to his mistress Lori" (instruction of Ch. himself; this book is not known from Sopikov's manuscript). Many of Ch.'s works remained in manuscripts: as a project of eternal peace, notes on economic peasants, a project on establishing a merchant bank, a dictionary of the Russian language, a dictionary of agriculture, cattle breeding and house-building, a poem in nine songs about the Pretender Grishka Otrepiev, etc. Let's add: another message from Ch. that his comedy, which has not come down to us, under the title: "Call it as you like," was presented repeatedly at the court theater in St. Petersburg. There is no general assessment of Ch.'s activity. Ch. was a kind of Lomonosov, of course, smaller. His works of an encyclopedic nature were of great benefit to Russian society; works on the history of Russian trade constitute a solid scholarly study; its ethnographic codes played a big role in the history of the study of the Russian people. Biographical information about Ch .: Novikov "Experience of a Historical Dictionary" (reprinted in the book by P.A. Efremov "Materials on Russian Literature"); preface to the 2nd edition of Economic Notes (Moscow, 1791; reprinted by Zabelin in Chronicles of Russian Literature and Antiquity, Volume I, Moscow, 1859, pp. 198 - 200); note by A. Fomin "To the biography of Ch." ("Knigovedenie", 1894, No. 7 - 8, p. 16); "Dictionary" of Metropolitan Eugene (1845, part 2; reprinted in Vengerov's "Russian Poetry", issue V, p. 872; here is a reprint of A.N. Tsypin's review of Ch.; historical, literary and bibliographic notes by A. Lyashchenko , issue VI, p. 408); note in the "Historical Bulletin" (December, 1893). Evaluation of the ethnographic works of Ch. by A.N. Pypin, in "History of Russian Ethnography" (vol. I, pp. 65 - 69). Information about Ch. is scattered in Afanasiev, "Russian satirical magazines" (pp. 7 - 10, 258, etc.), in Galakhov in the "Historical Reader" and "History of Russian Literature"; in Bulich "Sumarokov and contemporary criticism" (pp. 269, 272). See also Longinov "Bibliographic Notes" ("Contemporary", 1856, July, No. 8, p. 19); his own note ("Russian Archive", 1870, p. 1348; addition to it, ibid., p. 1935); M.A. Dmitriev "Little things from the reserve of my memory" (pp. 9, 28); Batyushkov "Works", edition of L. Maykov (vol. II, p. 398); Derzhavin "Works", edition of Grot (vol. II, 214; III, 117, 119, IV, 49, 746). Bibliographic indications of Ch.'s works; see Guberti (Vol. I, No. 166; Vol. II, No. 27, 129), Ostroglazov (No. 196, 264, 291), and Burtsev. Recently reprinted: "The deplorable fall of the poets", in "Russian Poetry", Vengerov (issue V) and "The Handsome Cook", in Burtsev's "Comprehensive bibliographic description" (volume V, St. Petersburg, 1901, p. 156 and following ). Portrait - at Rovinsky, "Dictionary" (volume III). P. Schegolev.
Biographical Dictionary. 2000 .
See what "Chulkov Mikhail Dmitrievich" is in other dictionaries:
Russian writer, journalist. A native of the "soldier's children"; was an actor, a court footman, an official of the Senate; served (in 1779) hereditary nobility. In his work, he focused on ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia
- (1743 or 1744 92) Russian writer, historian, ethnographer, economist. He published a satirical magazine I this and that, the Parnassian scribbler, compiled a Collection of Various Songs (vols. 1 4, 1770 74), Abeweg's dictionary of Russian superstitions ... (1786). A picaresque novel ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
- (1740 1793) a wonderful writer. There is very little information about his life. In the preface to the 2nd edition of his Notes on Economics, it is said that Ch. "studied at Moscow University in his youth and, having studied one ... ... Big biographical encyclopedia
- (1743/1744 1792), Russian writer, historian, ethnographer, economist. He published the satirical magazines “And this and that”, “Parnassian scribbler”, compiled “Collection of various songs” (vol. 1 4, 1770 74), dictionary “Abevega of Russian superstitions ...” (1786). Plutovskaya ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
Mikhail Dmitrievich Chulkov Date of birth ... Wikipedia
Mikhail Dmitrievich Chulkov Date of birth: 1743 (1743) Place of birth: Moscow Date of death: October 14, 1793 Chulkov Mikhail Dmitrievich (1743, Moscow October 14, 1793) Russian publisher, writer, historian ... Wikipedia
- (1740 1793) a wonderful writer. There is very little information about his life. In the preface to the 2nd edition of his Notes on Economics, it is said that Ch. studied at Moscow University in his infancy and, having studied only one elementary ... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron
early years
Mikhail Dmitrievich was born in Moscow in 1744 into the family of a soldier in the Moscow garrison. He studied at the Raznochinsk department of the gymnasium at Moscow University (1755-1758), then listened to lectures by professors of Moscow University on "verbal sciences". During the years of study, he took part in student performances of the university theater, and from the middle of 1761 - an actor in the Russian court theater in St. Petersburg. M. D. Chulkov’s career began at the beginning of 1765, when he entered the court service as a footman, then became a footman and court quartermaster, while for some time under the heir to the throne, Paul. Chulkov's political hopes were connected with his reign. He wanted to see in Paul a “grandson of Peter”, who would continue the reforms and exercise strong military power.
The beginning of Chulkov's literary and publishing activity dates back to the second half of the 1760s. At this time, he creates many works of art, publishes 4 collections of stories and fairy tales. His fifth collection was published in 1789 under the title "Mockingbird, or Slavic Tales" (four - 1766-1768; fifth - 1789), filled with patriotic feeling. In his stories, written on the basis of folk art, Chulkov reflected the real life of Russia.
His Story "A Bitter Fate" (1789) from the fifth collection contains the first signs of a traditional detective story, where a murder is being investigated. S. V. Sapozhkov called "A Bitter Fate" the first example of the detective genre in domestic literature, which makes it a harbinger of the detective genre not only in domestic, but also in foreign literature.
In 1767, Chulkov's book "A Brief Mythological Lexicon" was published, which explained the names and terms of Greek, Roman, Slavic myths and legends.
In 1769, Chulkov began to publish the magazine "This and that". Then his second magazine, The Parnassian Scribbler, comes out. Both of these magazines were designed for the middle strata of the townspeople, primarily the merchants, and reflected their social views and attitudes.
In 1770, he and N. I. Novikov published a joint collection of various songs, which included, in addition to folk, author's works by M. V. Zubova and others.
Chulkov - the author of the first Russian novel "A Pretty Cook, or the Adventures of a Depraved Woman" (1770) - a story about the "involuntary lot" of a sergeant's widow: the interaction of the social environment and human nature, the inconsistency of the nature of society's impact on the individual.
Chulkov wrote an adventurous chivalric novel The Tale of Siloslav.
In 1770, Chulkov entered the civil service, becoming a collegiate registrar in the Senate Chancellery. In 1771, he moved to the King of Arms office with the rank of registrar. In 1772, he entered the service of a collegiate registrar in the position of secretary to the Commerce Collegium, where he served until 1779. After which he was promoted. He began to work in the Chief Magistrate with the rank of collegiate assessor, where he rose to the rank of court counselor.
In the 1770s, while serving at the College of Commerce, Chulkov focused his attention on historical and economic topics. As secretary of the College of Commerce, he dealt with many materials, including legislative acts and treaties of previous years, and also had access to the archive. Apparently, already at the beginning of his public service, he decided to write a history of Russian trade. The first version of the work “Description of the exact state and properties of Russian bargaining from the possession of Peter the Great to the now prosperous time of the reign of the great Empress Catherine II” covered the period from the 1720s to the mid-1760s of the 18th century. It consisted of two parts: the first contained legislative material, the second contained documents. The manuscript was intended not for printing, but for internal use in the College of Commerce as a reference material.
Historical description of Russian commerce
In 1774, A. R. Vorontsov was appointed president of the College of Commerce, who provided Chulkov with great help and support in his intention to create a history of Russian trade from ancient times. Vorontsov obtained permission for him to work in the Senate archives, allocated the necessary funds. Chulkov's work went in two directions: identification, collection, systematization of documentary materials extracted from archives, and study of published sources and literature.
Chulkov carefully studied and, with the help of scribes, copied legislative acts and extensive clerical material of the Senate and the collegiums in charge of the economy (Kommerts-, Berg-, Manufaktura-collegia) and foreign policy (Collegium of Foreign Affairs) of the country. Archival documents of the 17th-18th centuries, included in their entirety, in the presentation or in fragments in the "Historical Description of Russian Commerce", form the basis of this work. The author practically used all the historical, geographical, ethnographic literature available to him, both domestic and foreign. He refers to the works of Lyzlov, Prokopovich, Lomonosov, Tatishchev, Rychkov, Shcherbatov.
Chulkov's work, with the mediation and support of Vorontsov, was published in 1781-1788.
"Historical Description of Russian Commerce" consists of 7 volumes, including 21 books. The first 5 volumes contain an overview of the history of foreign trade in individual regions and countries, 6 and 7 volumes - a consistent presentation of the history of commerce throughout Russia in the second half of the 18th century.
The first describes the history of trade of Ancient Rus' (until the 16th century) in the Black, Caspian, Baltic, White seas, then trade through Arkhangelsk, Baltic ports, in Murmansk and on the Kola Peninsula at a later time. The 2nd is devoted to Russia's trade with Turkey, Italy, Poland, Danzig, Prussia, Leipzig, Transcaucasia, Iran, Khiva, Bukhara, India, etc. The 3rd gives an overview of trade relations with Siberia, China, Mongolia, Kamchatka, etc. The 4th volume examines the trade of the Petersburg and Kronstadt ports in 1703-1785. The 5th covers trade mainly in the Baltic ports in the 18th century. Volume 6 characterizes Russia's internal trade in the 18th century. It also provides data on the participation of different cities in the export and import of goods in monetary terms, assortment and prices, duties, etc. The author talks about the emergence and development of crafts, mining and light industry, provides data on the location of factories and plants, the and the cost of products produced at each of them annually, the social composition of the owners, the forms of employment in enterprises. The 7th volume contains the Merchant's Lexicon, or the General State of All Goods of Russian Trade.... That is, Chulkov under commerce understood not only trade, but also industry, transport, credit, money circulation and monetary business. Chulkov's work is a history of Russia's economic development.
As a spokesman for the interests of the merchant class, which in the second half of the 18th century began to invest its capital more in industrial development, Chulkov highly appreciates its social role. Trade and entrepreneurial activity of the merchants is the main factor of economic progress and prosperity, the first of the most important conditions for stability and political stability in the state. This work had practical purposes: it had to satisfy the needs of the merchants, to provide them with the necessary information about trade.
An analysis of this work suggests that the author has a certain system of historical views. The main object of Chulkov's research was the socio-economic processes of Russia's development. He considered these processes in historical sequence on the material of the formation of legislation and on the basis of the characteristics of the economic policy of the state as a whole. For the 18th century, Chulkov's plan was not only innovative, but also extremely difficult to implement. And yet Chulkov managed to embody it in the main points. The “Historical Description of Russian Commerce” gives a general periodization of the history of Russia, highlights the most important political events in terms of their impact on the country's economy, is the most complete Chulkov the historian worked on covering new topics in the historiography of his time, evaluating and using the material with which he worked. He was the first in Russian historical science to introduce act and office material as the main historical source.
In the 1780s, on the basis of this multi-volume work, “A Brief History of Russian Trade”, “A Dictionary of Fairs Established in Russia”, “Instructions Necessary for Russian Merchants, and More for Young People, Containing Accounting Rules”, “Economic Notes for the usual fulfillment in the villages to the clerk and diligent economy, etc.
"Historical Description of Russian Commerce" is the first generalizing work on the economic history of Russia in the XII-XVIII centuries. In it, economic development is considered in historical terms and in accordance with the periodization of domestic and world history adopted at that time. The author connects the ancient period of the history of commerce with the formation of the Old Russian state (with the beginning of the activity of the first princes) and ends it with the invasion of Batu. The medieval period covers the time from the 1230s to the end of the 17th century, and the new one opens at the beginning of the 18th century. In accordance with the theories of his time, the author assigns the state a decisive role in the development of the Russian economy in general, and trade in particular. Chulkov traces the impact of government policy and political events on the state of foreign and domestic trade. At the same time, he also notes the importance of such factors as natural geographical conditions, population size, etc.
Chulkov the historian worked on covering new topics in the historiography of his time, evaluating and using the material with which he worked in a new way. He was the first in Russian historical science to introduce act and office material as the main historical source.
However, in the true sense of the word, "Historical Description of Russian Commerce" is not a study, as it largely consists of documents and materials systematized by chronology and territories. Huge factual material exists by itself, because the author does not subject it to any critical reflection, analysis and evaluation, does not accompany it with comments and conclusions. Also, the minus of this work is that in many cases Chulkov does not give the dates and titles of documents, does not indicate the original or copy, draft or final edition. Chulkov himself soberly assessed the results of his work, realizing that he had done only the initial part of the scientific coverage of the new historical and economic topics. But despite this, the value of this edition is great. It should also be noted that without special education and experience in such work, Chulkov did a truly gigantic job. He himself believed that his main task was the selection and publication of an appropriate fund of documents, and in this he saw the basis of historical knowledge on the Russian economy. Before the publication of a set of documents, it was impossible to think about creating some kind of unified concept of the Russian historical and economic process.
Last years
In the last decade of his life, Chulkov, due to the improvement of his financial situation, was able to begin to implement many of his previously conceived plans. He continued the publication of ethnographic materials, the study and publication of which began in the 1760s. In 1783, he published " Dictionary of Russian Superstitions" (2nd edition was published in 1786 under the title "Abevega of Russian Superstitions"), where he described rituals, everyday customs, signs, etiquette and folk holidays. Chulkov adhered to the principle of equality of all peoples whose beliefs and traditions deserve equal attention and interest.
Wishing to help peasants who were deprived of any opportunity to receive medical care, Chulkov prepared and published the Rural Medical Book, or the Dictionary of Healing Diseases.
Most of the time in the last years of his life, Chulkov devoted to preparing for publication the "Legal Dictionary" - a multi-volume set of legislative acts, arranged in the first part alphabetically, and in the other chronologically. But the author failed to complete his work. The practical significance of the Dictionary of Laws, or the Code of Russian Laws, was great, because at that time it was the only pointer to laws scattered in various publications.
Also in the 1780s - early 1790s, Chulkov collected materials for the multi-volume Dictionary of Agriculture, Housing and Cattle Breeding, and together with M.I. Popov worked on compiling a dictionary of the Russian language.
In the last years of his life, Chulkov published the fifth part of The Mockingbird. It included the most successful stories in artistic terms: "Precious Pike", "Gingerbread Coin", "Bitter Fate", in which he refers to the theme of the sad fate of the peasantry.
Thus, we can say that M. D. Chulkov was a true son of his era, the era of Enlightenment. In his works, he reveals himself as a humanist, striving for the improvement of man and the world of his relations. Chulkov is fighting ignorance, superstition, and inertia. He was characterized by the versatility of interests and activities, the educational orientation of various activities. Chulkov acted as a writer, journalist, publisher of satirical magazines, collector and publisher of folk songs, fairy tales and beliefs, author of an extensive work on the economic history of Russia. Chulkov adopted from contemporary historiography the monarchical scheme of the development of the Russian historical process. What was new for him was the study of the economic life of Russia, the role of the merchants in the development of trade and industry, the widespread use of office documentation extracted from the archives of central institutions as the most important source.
The basis of his economic views is the idea of the historically progressive development of the Fatherland, which he inextricably linked with the expansion and strengthening of industry and trade, the rational use of natural resources and the attraction of hired labor. He paid special attention to the problems of raising the economic development of the outlying lands. In the sphere of social relations, he considered it necessary to ensure the independence of entrepreneurs and merchants, linking the progress of Russia with the growth of the third estate. He was a supporter of the introduction
Writer, historian, journalist, economist, collector of folklore Chulkov Mikhail Dmitrievich born about 1743 (according to another version - in 1734) in Moscow, died there on 24.X (4.XI), 1792
His biography has not been fully established, it is not known exactly which family he came from - a petty-bourgeois or small merchant family, but his path is typical for the career of a raznochintsy writer, a native of the social classes.
From 1755-58 Chulkov studied at the "lower" gymnasium at Moscow University.
In 1761 he joined the troupe of the court theater, but the profession of an actor, apparently, was not given to him.
In 1765, he himself declared that he "has no desire" to continue serving in the theater. By this time, the beginning of his literary activity.
Since 1765 he has been writing for the theatre, one of his plays, the comedy Call It What You Like, which was not published in the 18th century, was staged on stage.
From 1765-1700, Mikhail Dmitrievich moved from the theater to the palace staff: to the position of court footman.
In 1766, the first part of his novel The Mockingbird was published, after which he left the service and began to engage in literary work.
In 1769 Chulkov publishes a weekly satirical magazine "I-to i sio".
In 1770 - the monthly magazine "Parnassian scribbler"; publishes the first everyday moralistic novel The Handsome Cook (Part I, 1770) and the collection Collection of Various Songs (Parts I - IV, 1770-74). ;
The unstable financial situation forces him to re-enter the service.
In 1772, he was appointed to the College of Commerce as a collegiate registrar, then served in the Senate, successfully moving up the bureaucratic ladder. Chulkov studies jurisprudence and publishes the Legal Dictionary (parts 1-5, 1781-88). In the same years, his “Historical Description of Russian Commerce” (vols. 1-21) was published, commissioned by government agencies and published by N. I. Novikov at public expense. As an executive and experienced official Chulkov M.D. known to Catherine.
In 1789, towards the end of his life, he received the rank of court counselor and acquired an estate with several dozen peasants.
Literary fame came to Chulkov M.D. after the release of his novel "The Mockingbird, or Slavic Tales" (vols. 1 - IV, 1706-68; vol. V, 1788), which is a kind of collection of stories and fairy tales. Chulkov uses the motifs of ancient mythology, fairy-knightly novels, novels and short stories of the “picaresque” type and works of folklore, interspersing them with basically real stories, colored with everyday details (“Gingerbread Coin”, “Precious Pike”, “Bitter Fate”). The novel contains many attacks against legal proceedings, usury, licentiousness and greed of the court nobility. Chulkov. evil ridicules the monastic customs, the decay of the moral and family foundations of the nobles. The author's sympathy is on the side of the "little people" - a poor peasant woman deceived by a rogue monk, a defenseless poor peasant Sysoi Durnosopov and others.
Chulkov's novel The Pretty Cook, or The Adventures of a Depraved Woman (Part I, 1770; Part II has not been preserved) is also full of everyday scenes and paintings. The heroine of Marton's novel, who, by the will of circumstances, has taken the path of an adventurer, fights for personal happiness, understood as material well-being, by all means available to her. There was no such type of people in Russian literature before Chulkov. The author builds his narrative on a broad everyday background, but does not seek to link disparate paintings and observations into a single whole.
The style of Chulkov's novel is devoid of literary embellishments, his language is simple, close to colloquial.
The publishing activity of Mikhail Dmitrievich Chulkov was significant. With his magazines “And this and that” and “Parnassus scribbler”, he immediately joined the journal polemics with the semi-official “All sorts of things”, “Mixture” by F. A. Emin, “Drone” by N. I. Novikov and others. He avoided discussing the most pressing social issues: he did not speak, for example, about the abuses of serfdom, the situation of the peasantry, and the like. Ridiculing the "smiling satire" of "Vskhodyaya Vsyachiny", he at the same time condemns the "caustic abuse and curses" of Novikov's "Drunk". His polemics were conducted mainly in the literary plane. Rejecting the genres of classicism, he introduced and defended new genres and forms: short stories, feuilleton and everyday essays.
Focusing on the reader from the urban philistine environment, opposing himself to noble writers, Chulkov quite consciously turned to folk poetry and folk legend, seeing in them the origins of national culture. Already in his "Mockingbird", especially in the section "Tales from the monastery of St. Babyla", there are folklore elements that testify to Chulkov's acquaintance not only with Russian fairy tales, but also with buffoon songs. In the journal “I To and Sio”, the writer publishes descriptions of wedding ceremonies, folk songs, proverbs and sayings, and finally, two poetic parodies “Poems for a swing” and “Poems for a semik”, polemically directed against V. I. Maikov.
A manifestation of Chulkov's interest in oral folk art was his publication of the collection "Collection of Various Songs" (parts I - IV, 1770-74; ed. 2 - 1776), soon republished by Novikov with his additions under the title "New and Complete Collection of Russian Songs" (1780-81). Along with genuine folk songs (over 300), among which there are songs about Stepan Razin, soldiers', peasants', philistine, etc., Chulkov included in his collection poems by contemporary poets (for example, Beketov, etc.). At his disposal were not only original recordings, but also materials from handwritten songbooks. The texts, as a rule, were subjected to the author's editing, which the writer himself stated in the preface, complaining about the "lack of art" of the composers: I can't really convince anyone." His collection had a great influence not only on Russian, but also on Western European literature. It was used by Vuk Karadzic and Czech romantics, A. S. Pushkin and other poets.
The works of Chulkov Mikhail Dmitrievich on Slavic mythology are known.
In 1767 he published a "Short Mythological Lexicon" (reprinted in 1769 in the journal "I That and Sio"), in which, along with ancient mythology, there is information about Slavic mythology.
In 1782, Chulkov published the Dictionary of Russian Superstitions, better known under the title of the 2nd edition of Abevega of Russian Superstitions, Idolatry Sacrifice, Popular Wedding Rites, Witchcraft, Shemanism, and Other Things (1786). It gives explanations of individual signs, beliefs, folk holidays and traditions of various peoples of Russia.
Chulkov M.D. wrote poems in which, in the spirit of the iroikomic tradition, he ridiculed high examples of the heroic epic of classicism. In the poetic feuilleton "The deplorable fall of the poets" (an appendix to the journal "I That and Sio", 1769), the writer spoke out, for example, against the noble writers who belonged to the Sumarokov school. Some of Chulkov’s works were not published during his lifetime and only partially survived: “The draft of a treatise between European states for the eternal extermination of wars in Europe”, a satirical poem in 10 songs “Grishka Otrepyev”, the novel “Fearless Citizen” and others.
Versatile activities Chulkov Mikhail Dmitrievich contributed to the familiarization of the masses with literature, the spread of education in Russia.
A native of the bourgeois class, M. D. Chulkov went through a difficult life path before he achieved relative prosperity. He was born, apparently, in Moscow. He studied at the Raznochinskaya gymnasium at Moscow University. He was an actor at first at the university, and later at the court theater in St. Petersburg. From 1766 to 1768, four parts of his collection "The Mockingbird, or Slavonic Tales" were published, the last, fifth part appeared in 1789.
In 1767, Chulkov published a “Short Mythological Lexicon”, in which he tried to recreate ancient Slavic mythology on a fictional basis. Slavic deities were comprehended by Chulkov by analogy with ancient ones: Lada - Venus, Lel - Amur, Svetovid - Apollo, etc. This was a desire, albeit naive, to free itself from the dominance of ancient mythology, so revered by classicist writers. Indeed, the “Slavic” deities proposed by Chulkov and his successor M.I. Popov began to appear in many works since then: both in Chulkov’s “Mockingbird” and in Popov’s book “Slavic Antiquities, or the Adventure of Slavic Princes” (1770 ), and then in the poems of Derzhavin, the poems of Radishchev, in the works of Krylov, Kuchelbeker and other poets. It was a continuation of the "lexicon". "Dictionary of Russian Superstitions" (1782). In it, in alphabetical order, a description is given of the beliefs and rituals not only of the Russian, but also of other peoples who inhabited the Russian empire: Kalmyks, Cheremis, Lapps, etc.
In 1769, Chulkov appeared with the satirical magazine This and That. The journal's position was inconsistent. Refusing to follow Ekaterina's “All sorts of things”, Chulkov at the same time condemns “Truten”, calling Novikov the “enemy” of the whole human race. Noteworthy is the publication of proverbs in the journal "And this and that", as well as a description of folk rites - weddings, Christenings, Christmas fortune-telling, reflecting the interest in Russian national culture that has awakened in society. Less interesting is Chulkov's other satirical journal, The Parnassian Scribbler, which is dedicated to ridiculing "nonsense," i.e., bad poets.
From 1770 to 1774, four books "Collection of Various Songs" were published, in which Chulkov's interest in folklore manifested itself with the greatest force. Along with the songs of well-known authors, including Sumarokov, the collection also contains folk songs - subdivisional, round dance, historical, etc. Chulkov did not write them down himself, but used handwritten collections, which he points out in the preface to the first part. He edited some texts.
Literary work did not provide Chulkov well. In 1772, he entered the State Commerce Collegium as a secretary, and later moved to the Senate. In this regard, the nature of his literary activity also changes. He creates the seven-volume Historical Description of Russian Commerce (1781-1788), and then the Legal Dictionary, or the Code of Russian Laws (1791-1792). The service gave Chulkov the opportunity to receive a noble title and acquire several estates near Moscow.
"Mockingbird, or Slavic Tales" - a fairy tale collection in five parts. The attitude to the fairy tale in classic literature was emphasized scornfully. As a fantastic, entertaining read, it was considered a work created by ignoramuses for equally ignorant readers.
With the dominant position of classic literature, the authors of love-adventure novels and fairy-tale collections resorted to curious tricks. They began their book with a preface, in which, sometimes briefly, sometimes at length, they listed those "useful" truths and edifying lessons that the reader supposedly could learn from. the work they offer. So, for example, in the preface to the fairy tale collection “A Thousand and One Hours” (1766) it was said: “We decided to print these (tales), because ... they all sought to inform us about the theology, politics and reasoning of those peoples who have the action of the forces of fables ... They describe (they) love no other than innocent and lawful ... In all places ... honesty is glorified ... virtue triumphs and ... vices are punished.
Chulkov refuses to compromise with classicism. His book also begins with a "forewarning", but it sounds like a challenge to didactic goals. “In this book,” he wrote, “there is very little or no importance and moralizing. It is inconvenient, it seems to me, to correct coarse morals; again, there is nothing in it with which to multiply them; so, leaving this, it will be a useful pastime of boring time, if they take the trouble to read it.
In accordance with this attitude, the name of the collection was also chosen. The word “Mockingbird” was placed in the first place, characterizing the author not as a moralist, but as a merry fellow and amuser, because a person, according to Chulkov, “is a funny and laughing animal, laughing and laughing.” In "Mockingbird" Chulkov collected and combined the most diverse material. The most widely used by him are international fairy tale motifs presented in numerous collections. The composition of the "Mockingbird" is borrowed from the famous "Thousand and One Nights", which survived in Russia in the 18th century. four editions, Chulkov takes from it the very principle of constructing the "Mockingbird": he motivates the reason that prompted the narrator to take up fairy tales, and also divides the material into "evenings" corresponding to the "nights" of the Arabic collection.
For a long time after Chulkov, this principle would prove to be a kind of Russian national tradition right up to Gogol's Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka. True, unlike the Thousand and One Nights, in The Mockingbird there are not one, but two narrators: a certain Ladan, whose name was derived by Chulkov from the Slavic goddess of love - Lada, and a runaway monk from the monastery of St.
Once in the house of a retired colonel, after the sudden death of the colonel and his wife, they take turns telling stories to their daughter Alenone to console and entertain her. At the same time, Ladan's tales are distinguished by magical, and the monk's stories - by real-everyday content. The protagonist of fantastic tales is Prince Siloslav, who is looking for his bride Prelepa, who was kidnapped by an evil spirit. Random meetings of Siloslav with numerous heroes who tell him about their adventures allow inserting short stories into the narrative. One of these short stories - the meeting of Siloslav with the severed but living head of Tsar Raxolan, goes back to the tale of Yeruslan Lazarevich. Pushkin will later use it in the poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Many motifs were taken by Chulkov from French collections of the late 17th - early 18th centuries, known as the Fairy Cabinet, as well as from old Russian stories, translated and original. However, the Russian folk tale in "The Mockingbird" is presented very poorly, although the main task of the writer was to try to create a Russian national fairy tale epic, as indicated primarily by the title of the book - "Slavic fairy tales". Chulkov seeks to give a Russian flavor to the extensive material, for the most part drawn from foreign sources, by mentioning Russian geographical names: Lake Ilmen, the Lovat River, as well as the “Slavonic” names he invented, such as Siloslav, Prelep, etc. In the monk’s tales, differing in real everyday content, Chulkov relied on another tradition: on the European picaresque novel, on the Comic Novel by the French writer P. Scarron, and especially on facets - satirical and everyday stories. First of all, the largest of the real-everyday stories is connected with the latter - "The Tale of the Birth of the Taffeta Fly." The hero of the story is student Neoh - a typical picaresque hero. The content of the story is divided into a number of independent short stories. Having experienced a number of ups and downs, Neokh achieves a strong position at the court of the sovereign and becomes the son-in-law of a great boyar.
The last, fifth part of The Mockingbird was published in 1789. It completes the plot of the tales begun in the previous part. Three satirical everyday stories were fundamentally new in it: "A Bitter Fate", "Gingerbread Coin" and "Precious Pike". These stories differed from other works of the "Mockingbird" by their sharply accusatory content.
The story "A Bitter Fate" speaks of the exceptionally important role of the peasant in the state and, at the same time, of his plight. “A peasant, a plowman, a farmer,” writes Chulkov, “all these three names, according to the legend of ancient writers, in which the newest ones agree, mean the main fatherland of the feeder in times of peace, and in wartime - a strong defender, and argue that the state without a farmer manage as a man cannot live without a head” (Ch. 5, p. 188-189). Laconically and clearly formulated two social functions performed by the peasantry. But his merits were in blatant contradiction with the terrible poverty and disenfranchised position in which the peasants were. And Chulkov does not pass by this problem. “This knight of the story,” continues the author, “the peasant Sysoi Fofanov, the son of Durnosopov, was born in a village remote from the city, brought up with bread and water, was previously wrapped in swaddling clothes, which in their subtlety and softness were not much inferior to a mat, lay on his elbow instead of a cradle in a hut, hot in summer and smoky in winter; up to the age of ten, he went barefoot and without a caftan, endured uniformly unbearable heat in summer, and unbearable cold in winter. Horseflies, mosquitoes, bees and wasps instead of city fat in hot times filled the body with his tumor. Until the age of twenty-five, in the best attire against the former, that is, in bast shoes and in a gray caftan, he turned the earth in lumps in the fields and, in the sweat of his face, consumed his primitive food, that is, bread and water with pleasure ”(Ch. 5. C 189).
The tragic situation of the peasants is aggravated by the appearance among them of "sedugs", who force almost the entire village to work for themselves. Along the way, it tells about bribe-taking doctors who profit during recruiting, about officers who mercilessly rob their soldiers. Sysoi Fofanov also had a chance to participate in battles, in one of which he lost his right arm, after which he was released home.
The next story "Gingerbread Coin" touches on an equally important social problem - wine farming and taverns. The farming trade in wine was the greatest evil for the people. The government, interested in easily obtaining wine fees, sold the right to sell wine to tax farmers, who were simultaneously entrusted with the prosecution of private taverns. The consequence of all this was the soldering of the population and the unpunished arbitrariness of tax-farmers. In the middle of the XVIII century. the government also allowed the nobility to engage in distilling, but not for sale, which freed the nobles from the arbitrariness of tax-farmers. In Chulkov's story, the object of satire, unfortunately, was not the wine trade itself, ruining the people, crippling them spiritually and physically, but only lawbreakers who were secretly selling strong drinks. So, a certain major Fufaev, not daring to openly engage in taverns, opened a trade in gingerbread at an increased price in his village, and for these gingerbread, depending on their size, they gave out an appropriate measure of wine at home.
In the third story - "The Precious Pike" - bribery is denounced. This was a vice that plagued the entire bureaucratic system of the state. Officially, bribes were forbidden, but Chulkov shows that there were many ways to circumvent the law. “The calculation of all the tricks,” he writes, “if they are described, will be five parts of the Mockingbird” (Ch. 5. S. 213). The story tells about the governor, who, having arrived in the city assigned to him, resolutely refused to accept bribes. The sycophants were discouraged, but then they found out that the governor was a big pike hunter. Since then, it has become customary to bring him the largest pike, and at the same time live. Later it turned out that each time the same pike was bought, which was kept in the cage by the governor's servant and at the same time took for it an amount commensurate with the importance of the petitioner's business. When the governor was leaving the city, he arranged a farewell dinner, at which the famous pike was also served. The guests easily calculated that for each piece of fish they paid a thousand rubles. "Precious pike" becomes Chulkov's bright symbol of bribery. “This creature,” the author writes, “was chosen as an instrument of bribes, as it seems, because it has sharp and numerous teeth ... and ... one could designate it as an image of a malicious snitch and injustice” (Part 5. C 220).
With all the shortcomings of this collection, which are quite acceptable at the first experience, the very intention of the writer to create a national Russian work deserves serious attention.
Chulkov's "Mockingbird" gave birth to a tradition. Fairy-tale collections were created in large numbers, and later fairy-tale poems. In 1770 -1771. “Slavic antiquities, or the Adventures of Slavic princes” by M. I. Popov are published. This book continues the fairy-tale tradition of the Mockingbird, bypassing its real-life material. At the same time, Popov seeks to enhance the historical flavor of his collection. He names the ancient Slavic tribes - Polyans, Dulebs, Buzhans, "Krivichans", Drevlyans; mentions historical places - Tmutarakan, Iskorest; tells about the customs of the Drevlyans to burn the dead, to kidnap wives. However, this small commentary is drowned in a vast sea of fairy-knightly narrative.
The fairy tale tradition also prevails in V. A. Levshin’s Russian Fairy Tales. Ten parts of this collection are published from 1780 to 1783. A well-known innovation in them was the appeal to the epic epic, which Levshin considers as a kind of fairy-knight's fairy tale. This explains the rather unceremonious treatment of the epic. So, the very first “tale” “About the glorious Prince Vladimir of Kiev Sun Vseslavievich and about his strong mighty hero Dobryn Nikitich”, contrary to its epic title, again leads us to various kinds of fabulous transformations. Tugarin Zmeevich himself turns out to be Levshin's magician, born from the egg of the monster Saragura. The epic tradition manifests itself in this story only by the names of the characters and the desire to stylize the story in the spirit of the epic warehouse. In addition, the fifth part of "Russian Tales" contains a fairly accurate retelling of the epic about Vasily Buslaev.
Of the satirical everyday stories of Levshinsky's collection, the most interesting is "Annoying Awakening". It presents the predecessor of Akaky Akakievich and Samson Vyrin - a small official, crushed by want and lack of rights. The official Bragin was offended by the boss. He drank out of grief. In a dream, the goddess of happiness Fortuna appeared to him. She turned Bragin into a handsome man and invited him to become her husband. After waking up, Bragin sees himself lying in a puddle, he pressed the leg of a pig lying next to him to his chest.
In the 80s of the XVIII century, there was a desire to move away from the magical fairy tale tradition of the Mockingbird and create a real folk tale. This intention was reflected even in the titles of the collections. So, in 1786, the collection “A Cure for Thoughtfulness or Insomnia, or Real Russian Tales” was published. Another collection of the same year again emphasizes the folklore nature of the book: "Grandfather's walks, or Continuation of real Russian fairy tales." Only "Russian Tales, containing ten folk tales" (1787), written by Pyotr Timofeev, no longer have a semi-folklore, semi-book character.
In the future, under the influence of fairy tale collections, poems begin to be created. Evidence of the direct connection between the “bogatyr” poems and fairy tale collections is the poems of N. A. Radishchev, the son of the famous writer, “Alyosha Popovich, heroic song creation” and “Churila Plenkovich” with the same subtitle. Both were published in 1801. Each of the poems is a close retelling of the "stories" placed in V. Lyovshin's "Russian Fairy Tales". Fairy tale poems were written by A. N. Radishchev (“Bova”), N. M. Karamzin (“Ilya Muromets”), M. M. Kheraskov (“Bakhariana”) and other poets. The last link in this chain was Pushkin's poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila", which brilliantly completed this more than half a century tradition,
Chulkov published the book "A Pretty Cook, or the Adventures of a Depraved Woman". The heroine of the novel is a woman of easy virtue named Marton. Life brings Marton more suffering than joy. Therefore, the social situation surrounding the heroine is no longer depicted in a comic, but in a satirical way. Chulkov seeks to understand and, to some extent, justify his heroine, to arouse sympathy for her, since she herself is the least to blame for her "depraved" life. The story is told from the perspective of Marton herself. “I think,” she begins her story, “that many of our sisters will call me immodest ... He will see the light, when he sees he will sort it out, and having sorted out and weighed my affairs, let him call me what he pleases.”
The heroine talks about the difficult situation in which she found herself after the death of her husband. “Everyone knows,” she continues, “that we won a victory near Poltava, in which my unfortunate husband was killed in the battle. He was not a nobleman, he did not have villages behind him, therefore, I was left without any food, I bore the title of a sergeant's wife, but I was poor. Marton's second argument in his defense is the position of women in society. “I didn’t know how people behave and I couldn’t find a place for myself, and so I became free because we are not assigned to any positions.”
The character of Martona and her behavior are formed in the fierce struggle for the right to live, which she has to fight every day. Martona is not cynical by nature. What makes her cynical is the attitude of those around her. Describing her acquaintance with the next landlord, she calmly remarks: “This first date was a bargain with us, and we didn’t talk about anything else, how we signed a contract, he traded my charms, and I gave them to him for a decent price.” himself and the immoralism of the noble society, and its class prejudices. After she moved from a valet to a master, it seems to her "mean to have a message with a serf." “I laugh,” she says, “to some husbands who boast of the fidelity of their wives, but it seems that it is better to remain silent about such matters that are in the complete power of the wife.”
But the egoistic basis of human behavior was revealed even by facies. However, they failed to show kind, humane feelings. As for Martona, along with cynicism and predation, good, noble deeds are also inherent in her. Upon learning that the depraved noblewoman wants to poison her husband, Marton decisively intervenes in this story and reveals the criminal's intention. She forgives her lover who deceived and robbed her, and at the news of his imminent death, she sincerely regrets him. “Akhalev’s bad deed against me,” she admits, “was completely destroyed from my memory, and only his good deeds seemed vivid in my concept. I cried about his death and regretted him as much as my sister regrets about her own brother, who rewarded her with a dowry ... "
In contrast to the conditional "antiquity" presented in other stories, in "The Pretty Cook" the events take place in the 18th century. The time of action is dated by reference to the Battle of Poltava, in which Marton's husband was killed. The places where the events of the novel take place are also indicated. First Kyiv, then Moscow. Here Marton visits the church of St. Nicholas on chicken legs, and in Maryina Grove there is a duel between her admirers. The artistic originality of The Pretty Cook is due to the satirical influence of the journal tradition of 1769-1770. - magazines of Chulkov himself "And this and that" and Emin's "Infernal mail". Images already appear in them, derived by Chulkov in The Pretty Cook - unceremonious kept women, bribe-takers, clerks, depraved noblewomen, deceived husbands, proud mediocre poets, cunning impudent lovers.
Attention is drawn to the saturation of the story with folk proverbs, which can be explained by the democratic origin of the heroine. And at the same time, the appearance of proverbs in the novel is again connected with the tradition of satirical magazines, in which moralistic stories and skits often end with a moralistic conclusion. This technique is presented most nakedly in the so-called "recipes" placed in Novikov's Trutnya. The moralistic conclusion could be lengthy, but most often short. So, for example, the 26th letter in the magazine "Infernal Mail" contains a story about a depraved noblewoman who verbally taught her daughter chastity, and corrupted her by the example of her love affairs. The story ends with the following morality: "That teacher is bad, who brings up children more with words than with an example of a good life."
Chulkov picks up this sort of "fabulous" device in The Pretty Cook. So, the description of the sudden change in the fate of Martona, who switched to maintenance from a valet to a gentleman, ends with a moralizing proverb: “Before Seleva, Makar dug the ridges, and now Makar has ended up in governors.” The story about a nobleman who helped Sveton and Marton keep their love meetings a secret from Sveton's wife begins with the corresponding proverb - "A good horse is not without a rider, and an honest man is not without a friend." The next episode, where Sveton's wife, having unraveled her husband's tricks, beats Marton and shamefully drives her out of the estate, ends with the proverb: "The bear is wrong that he ate the cow, and the cow that wandered into the forest is wrong."
In the second half of the 18th century, simultaneously with the works of Emin, Chulkov, Lyovshin and partially influenced by them, an extensive prose literature began to spread, designed for the tastes of the mass reader. Their authors, in some cases themselves natives of the people, relied in their work on the traditions of the handwritten story of the late 17th - early 18th centuries. and on oral folk art, primarily on everyday fairy tales. Despite the low artistic level, this literature has played a positive role, introducing to reading, albeit unprepared, but inquisitive audience.
One of the first places in its popularity is the famous "Letter" by N. G. Kurganov. In the first edition, the book was called "Russian Universal Grammar, or General Writing" (1769).
As the title implies, Kurganov's book was primarily for educational purposes, providing information on Russian grammar. However, the author has significantly expanded his tasks. Following the grammar, he introduced seven "additions" into the collection, of which the second, which contained "short intricate stories," is especially interesting from a literary point of view. The plots of these short stories are drawn from foreign and partly Russian sources and are playful, and in some cases edifying. In the section “Collection of various poems”, Kurganov placed, along with folk songs, poems by Russian poets of the 18th century. Subsequently, the "Pismovnik", with some changes and additions, was repeatedly reprinted in the 18th and 19th centuries. until 1837
The influence of Chulkov's work and the traditions of the handwritten story was combined in a peculiar way in Ivan Novikov's collection "The Adventures of Ivan the Gostiny Son", consisting of two parts (1785-1786). The first of them, the title of which is the title of the entire book, contains a description of the life path of two former robbers - the merchant's son Ivan and the son of sexton Vasily. The path of crimes turned out to be a school of severe trials for each of them, which leads the heroes to a moral revival and to the rejection of robbery. This line is especially clearly drawn in the history of Ivan. Raised in the home of a wealthy father, spoiled by an indulgent mother, Ivan became addicted to gross sensual pleasures and embarked on a path of crime. However, the loss of his wife, thoughts in connection with this over his life, force him to part with the band of robbers and take the veil as a monk under the name of Polycarp.
The fate of Vasily is a parallel to the story of the living room son Ivan. He also left his parental home, took up the robbery business and then returned to an honest life. With the help of the monk Polycarpius, Vasily opens a trade in the fish and apple rows. Both stories serve as a frame for subsequent stories, which are told to the monk Polycarpis by the merchant Vasily. Here is the story about Frol Skobeev, published under the title "Christmas Evening of Novgorod Girls".
The tradition of a real-life novel, the first example of which on Russian soil was Chulkov's The Pretty Cook, continues in the novel by an unknown author, The Unfortunate Nikanor, or the Adventures of the Russian Nobleman G. (published from 1775 to 1789). The hero of the story is a poor nobleman who lives as a hanger-on in rich houses. This enables the author to develop a broad picture of the life and customs of the landowners and serfs of the 18th century.
To the lubok literature of the 18th century proper. belong to the books of Matvey Komarov, "a resident of the city of Moscow", as he called himself, a native of serfs. In 1779, he published a book called "A detailed and true description of the good and evil deeds of the Russian swindler, thief and robber and former Moscow detective Vanka Kain, his whole life and strange adventures." Its hero is Ivan Osipov, nicknamed Cain, a fugitive serf who traded in robbery. He offered his services to the police as a detective, but did not leave his former craft. Along with the "evil" deeds of Cain, the author describes his "good", noble deeds, such as, for example, the release from the monastery of the "blueberry" forcibly imprisoned in it, the deliverance from the soldier's service of a peasant son who was illegally recruited, and a number of others. Talking about Cain’s love for a certain sergeant’s daughter, Komarov remarks: “Love passion does not dwell only in noble hearts, but vile people are often infected with it ...” The book has a special section for songs allegedly composed, but most likely, loved Cain. In the first place among them is the famous robber song "Don't make noise, mother green oak tree."
Even more widely known was Komarov's book about Milord George, the full title of which is "The Tale of the Adventure of the English Milord George and the Brandenburg Margravine Friederike Louise" (1782). The basis for this work was the handwritten “The Tale of the English Milord and Margravine Martsimiris” reworked by Komarov. This is a typical adventurous love work in which fidelity and constancy help the hero and heroine overcome all obstacles and unite in marital ties. Tale O Milord George was repeatedly reprinted not only in the 18th, but also in the 19th and even in the 20th century.
