On the Pages of Children’s “MAGAZINES” of Sashura Block

Abstract

The article studies on the reading of Alexander Blok at an early age. The role of the poet’s mother A. A. Kublitskaya-Piottukh, his aunt, M. A. Beketova, and other close relatives in the development of the creative skills of the boy
has been indicated. This was facilitated by the whole special atmosphere of honoring art, literature, science, which prevailed in the Beketov family. This was unique case of homemade “magazines”-babies (“Kids Magazine”, “Ship”, etc.), which Sasha, in seven or eight years, created with the help of his mother. The article focuses on the creative activity of the Block teen years, presented in the handwritten “journal” — “Bulletin”. Brief overview of the texts of the Block’s gymnasium years composed in various genres (poems, prosaic miniatures, dramatic scenes, etc.) was made. The influence of the samples of Russian and world literature on the young Blok was noted: he consciously and unwittingly imitated them. The article based on archival materials from the funds of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House). For the first time, the unpublished youthful translations of the Block from French language are reproduced with annotations. The text is supplemented with illustrations that give an idea of the handmade “magazine” (the cover of one of the numbers, the home pages of the tales “Misfortunes Argentina” and “The Three Locks of Ribovilia”).

Keywords: reading of A. Block-child, children’s journal of A. Block “Bulletin”, translations of the A. Block, children’s poetry and prose of A. Blok