![SHISHKOV, Aleksandr Semenovich (1754-1841). Autograph manuscript signed of his essay ['Mnenie moe', or: 'My Opinion'] on the necessity of founding a new Academy to promote enlightenment and excellence ['obshchestva pod nazvaniem sorevnovatelei prosveshcheniia i blagotvoreniia'], 13 September 1817, 4 pages, 4to (short tears at the folds some of which repaired with tape).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2013/CKS/2013_CKS_01160_0078_001(shishkov_aleksandr_semenovich_autograph_manuscript_signed_of_his_essay034705).jpg?w=1)
![SHISHKOV, Aleksandr Semenovich (1754-1841). Autograph manuscript signed of his essay ['Mnenie moe', or: 'My Opinion'] on the necessity of founding a new Academy to promote enlightenment and excellence ['obshchestva pod nazvaniem sorevnovatelei prosveshcheniia i blagotvoreniia'], 13 September 1817, 4 pages, 4to (short tears at the folds some of which repaired with tape).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2013/CKS/2013_CKS_01160_0078_002(shishkov_aleksandr_semenovich_autograph_manuscript_signed_of_his_essay034734).jpg?w=1)
![SHISHKOV, Aleksandr Semenovich (1754-1841). Autograph manuscript signed of his essay ['Mnenie moe', or: 'My Opinion'] on the necessity of founding a new Academy to promote enlightenment and excellence ['obshchestva pod nazvaniem sorevnovatelei prosveshcheniia i blagotvoreniia'], 13 September 1817, 4 pages, 4to (short tears at the folds some of which repaired with tape).](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2013/CKS/2013_CKS_01160_0078_000(shishkov_aleksandr_semenovich_autograph_manuscript_signed_of_his_essay034644).jpg?w=1)
Details
SHISHKOV, Aleksandr Semenovich (1754-1841). Autograph manuscript signed of his essay ['Mnenie moe', or: 'My Opinion'] on the necessity of founding a new Academy to promote enlightenment and excellence ['obshchestva pod nazvaniem sorevnovatelei prosveshcheniia i blagotvoreniia'], 13 September 1817, 4 pages, 4to (short tears at the folds some of which repaired with tape).
SHISHKOV BUILDS BARRICADES TO PROTECT THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE FROM PUSHKIN AND HIS 'ARZAMASIANS'. Russian literary life at the beginning of the 19th century was characterised by a fierce debate about language: between classicism and modernity, between Slavonic traditions and a democratising Russian language that borrowed increasingly more from outside. Shishkov stood firmly against the idea of the historical evolution of language, published influential works on the subject, and headed the literary society Conversations for Lovers of the Russian Word ('Beseda liubitelei russkogo slova'). The society met until the death of Derzhavin in 1816. The opposing literary society Arzamas was founded by Zhukovsky in 1815 to counteract and satirize Shishkov and his Lovers of the Russian Word; members included Batiushkov, Pushkin, Viazevskii and others. Shishkov wrote this 'Opinion' in 1817, when the Lovers of the Russian Word had disbanded, and at a time when Arzamas was gaining strength and began discussing the publication of a journal to disseminate its ridicule of the traditionalists. The Academy proposed here by Shishkov would be the key weapon in defending the Russian language from the attacks of Modernity. While he does not cite Arzamas or Pushkin by name, Shishkov argues for an Academy that would by its very nature counteract the effect of such dissident groups: he emphasizes that this new academy should be 'one and inseparable... a multitude of academies would impact Literature and Philology the same way that a multitude of Senates would Justice'; he asks if there is anywhere in the world where two academies co-exist, with two languages and two kinds of literature -- "it is very bad when there is none, but incomparably worse when there are too many". The manuscript discusses the various merits of this new Academy, the selection of members, their trustworthiness and how to retain the loyalty of the membership. Kiselev and Samarin reproduce this text from the version published in the proceedings of the Society for the History and Antiquities of Russia for 1858, which lacks Shishkov's concluding paragraph. The last paragraph, contained in the present manuscript, provides the date of composition unknown to Kiselev and Samarin, and sees Shishkov justifying his 'Opinion' as his duty as 'defender of Enlightenment'. Rare: we could locate just one Shishkov manuscript outside of Russia, at the New York Public Library. AN IMPORTANT MANUSCRIPT with continuing relevance to Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kiselev & Samarin (eds), Zapiski, mneniia i perepiska Admirala A.S. Shishkova, vol. 2, (Berlin: 1870), pp. 156-159.
SHISHKOV BUILDS BARRICADES TO PROTECT THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE FROM PUSHKIN AND HIS 'ARZAMASIANS'. Russian literary life at the beginning of the 19th century was characterised by a fierce debate about language: between classicism and modernity, between Slavonic traditions and a democratising Russian language that borrowed increasingly more from outside. Shishkov stood firmly against the idea of the historical evolution of language, published influential works on the subject, and headed the literary society Conversations for Lovers of the Russian Word ('Beseda liubitelei russkogo slova'). The society met until the death of Derzhavin in 1816. The opposing literary society Arzamas was founded by Zhukovsky in 1815 to counteract and satirize Shishkov and his Lovers of the Russian Word; members included Batiushkov, Pushkin, Viazevskii and others. Shishkov wrote this 'Opinion' in 1817, when the Lovers of the Russian Word had disbanded, and at a time when Arzamas was gaining strength and began discussing the publication of a journal to disseminate its ridicule of the traditionalists. The Academy proposed here by Shishkov would be the key weapon in defending the Russian language from the attacks of Modernity. While he does not cite Arzamas or Pushkin by name, Shishkov argues for an Academy that would by its very nature counteract the effect of such dissident groups: he emphasizes that this new academy should be 'one and inseparable... a multitude of academies would impact Literature and Philology the same way that a multitude of Senates would Justice'; he asks if there is anywhere in the world where two academies co-exist, with two languages and two kinds of literature -- "it is very bad when there is none, but incomparably worse when there are too many". The manuscript discusses the various merits of this new Academy, the selection of members, their trustworthiness and how to retain the loyalty of the membership. Kiselev and Samarin reproduce this text from the version published in the proceedings of the Society for the History and Antiquities of Russia for 1858, which lacks Shishkov's concluding paragraph. The last paragraph, contained in the present manuscript, provides the date of composition unknown to Kiselev and Samarin, and sees Shishkov justifying his 'Opinion' as his duty as 'defender of Enlightenment'. Rare: we could locate just one Shishkov manuscript outside of Russia, at the New York Public Library. AN IMPORTANT MANUSCRIPT with continuing relevance to Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Kiselev & Samarin (eds), Zapiski, mneniia i perepiska Admirala A.S. Shishkova, vol. 2, (Berlin: 1870), pp. 156-159.
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