Letter to Anna Ulyanova, July 15, 1898

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July 15, 1898

Yesterday I received your letter of June 27.

I had a letter from the doctor yesterday, about N. Y.— he shot himself with a revolver. He was buried on June 23. He left a letter for Gleb, and manuscripts, also for him. They say he asked me to be given a message to the effect that he died full of faith in life and not from disappointment.

I did not expect such a sad ending. Probably the trouble caused by that scandal-monger had a terrible effect on him.

I believe I have already written about a box of books addressed to me from Vilno (I have not yet received it). Can those be the books that have gone on to Irkutsk? When I get them I will inform you. By the way, the mix-up over my books worries me far less (I have plenty of books) than the mix-up over the library book (which you say you will return in a few days). I did not anticipate such an indescribably lengthy delay! So all our efforts to avoid delays, to manage the return in six weeks instead of six months, have been a waste of time, have they? If so, it will be a very sad state of affairs, especially as all my chances of using the St. Petersburg libraries came to an end when N.K. left. I have even thought of asking you whether you could see the librarian yourself and persuade him to give you exact terms for the despatch of books, time of sending, general punctuality, etc. It would not seem a very difficult thing to do and yet in eighteen months absolutely nothing has come of it. I think it’s about time we gave it up—it is no joke trying to do battle against “long distances”.

I am extremely surprised that you have not received Voprosy Filosofii. It would be a pity for it to get lost, for it is a competently written book and not a cheap one; the set, furthermore, would be broken up. I addressed it to Maria Ulyanova by registered post on May 15, I still have the receipt. Could I have sent it to the wrong place? (I may have sent it to your address at Sobachya Ploshchadka). Please get all the information you can and let me know. I will present the receipt at the post office and claim compensation for the loss. I always inform you in my letters of books that I send. So, if a book is a long time coming, you may expect information about it in due course. It seems as if another of my letters has gone astray.

Sergei Ivanovich has written to me that he will be glad to have the post of doctor in Sredny Kolymsk. I think he is right. It is better to have a job; without it you go under in exile. He will probably be able to live there well enough on 2,500 rubles a year.

Nadya and I are making a fair copy of the Webbs’ book, I have to post it, by the terms of the contract, in the middle of August. I am utterly fed up with this copying (about 1,000 pages for the two of us). The translation was interesting, for it is a very, very useful book.

Yesterday Nadya received a letter from Apollinariya Alexandrovna in Krasnoyarsk. She is being sent to the village of Kazachinskoye in Yeniseisk District, about 100 versts up the river from Yeniseisk. There are a number of political exiles there—Lepeshinsky, Lingling, Rostkovsky, Grigoryeva. She has been in Krasnoyarsk for about 10 days and is now apparently continuing her way to her place of exile.

When do they intend to release Mitya? I did not expect them to make such a fuss over nothing. And where will he go when they let him out?

Kiss Mother, and regards to all.

Yours,

V. U.

Are you going to the Caucasus with Mark or not?

I was very glad to learn that you have sent the money for the publication to the écrivain. A big merci for that. I shall now await events. But tell them to reserve 25 copies for me as author—I will send them to comrades and acquaintances. When you get them, send me 12 or 15 copies at once; I will write to you about the rest and tell you where to send them.