Details
TOLSTOY, Lev Nikolaevich (1828 - 1910). Autograph letter signed to an unidentified correspondent ('Dear Sir'), n.p. [Yasnaya Polyana], 2 Dec[ember] 1906, in English, acknowledging a letter and package of papers, 'I am very much gratified to know that your opinion on Schakespeare [sic] and his fame coincide with mine', and regretting that his correspondent did not send the first volume of his book, one page, 8vo (on a leaf with a perforated upper edge, taken from a note book, strengthened with tape on the verso, slightly discoloured).
In a number of his letters in English at this time Tolstoy refers to Shakespeare. Even as a young man he disparaged Shakespeare's plays and after his religious conversion disliked them on the grounds that they did not satisfy his new demands on literature in matters of morality and art. In 1906 he published On Shakespeare and Drama, which provoked a notable exchange between Bernard Shaw and Vladimir Chertkov. The present letter is dated ten days after the death of Tolstoy's much loved daughter, Masha.
In a number of his letters in English at this time Tolstoy refers to Shakespeare. Even as a young man he disparaged Shakespeare's plays and after his religious conversion disliked them on the grounds that they did not satisfy his new demands on literature in matters of morality and art. In 1906 he published On Shakespeare and Drama, which provoked a notable exchange between Bernard Shaw and Vladimir Chertkov. The present letter is dated ten days after the death of Tolstoy's much loved daughter, Masha.