1. cf A. Akhamatova,Vremennik puškinskoj kommissii, No. 1, (ML1936).
2. The first Russian translation came out in 1818 under a title typical of that period: “Adol'f and Eleonora, of The Perils of Amorous Ties, A True Event” (Adol'f i Eleonora, ili opasnosti ljubeznyx svjazej, istinnoe proisšestvie). 1831 saw two more translations of the French novel; the first in theMoscow Telegraph, which was attempting to spread romanticism among the reading public, and the second in a separate edition by the famous poet and man of letters, Prince Vjazemskij, a close friend of Pushkin (Adol'f: Roman Benžamen Konstana. (S. Pb. 1831)). Moreover, this volume was dedicated to Pushkin with the following works: “Accept my translation of our beloved novel. You and I have so often discussed the superiority of this creation, that while I was translating it in the country at my leisure, my thoughts were close to your heart.” S. I. Rodzevič,Lermontov kak romanist, (Kiev, 194), p. 74.
3. Both Pushkin and Vjazemskij wrote that Constant was the first to describe the new hero, subsequently made famous by Lord Byron. This is obviously erroneous, because of their ignorance of the true chronology. They learned of Byron after Constant (Pushkin first read Byron in 1820), but the first two cantos ofChilde Harold came out in 1812, “The Giaour” in 1813, “The Bride of Abydos” in 1813, and “Lara” in 1814. Byron readAdolphe only in 1816 when it was first published. cf A. Akhmatova, p. 95.
4. e.g., Boldakov, N. P. Daškevič, V. V. Sipovskij, V. F. Asmus, E. Y. Duchesne, L. V. Pumpjanskij, E. N. Mihajlova, A. N. Veselovskij, V. Spasovič, V. K. Šul'c, K. F. Golovin. An example is A. D. Galaxov who mentionsAdolphe but simply says that Pechorin reminds him of Adolphe. Incidentally, we have no direct evidence that Lermontov knew Constant's novel. However, since he know French fluently, and sinceAdolphe was very well-known among his contemporaries, it is more than likely that he read it in the original, if not in Russian translations.
5. S. l. Rodzevič,Lermontov kak romanist, (Kiev, 1914). It might be noticed also that there were attempts to discuss the influence of other French novelists. Tomaševskij discusses the influence of Balzac and other French novelists on Russian literature in 1837–38. He particularly singles outGerfaut (1838) by Charles de Bernard, a disciple of Balzac, as a prototype for Pechorin, the hero of Lermontov's novel. B. Tomaševskij, “Proza Lermontova i zapadnoevropejskaja literaturnaja tradicija,”Literaturnoe Nasledstvo, Vols 43–44 (M. 1941), pp. 502–507. Also cf. L. Ia. Ginzburg,Tvorčeskij put' Lermontova (L. 1940), pp. 163–4 and S. I. Rodzevič, pp. 79–82. More attention was directed at pointing out the influence of A. de Musset'sConfession d'un Enfant du Siècle onHero of Our Time. It is apparent that the critics grouped Chateaubriand's René, Constant's Adolphe, Musset's Octave and Lermontov's Pechorin together, ignoring significant differences, and placing Adolphe in the ranks of the French romantics of the 1830's. According to Rodzevič, the common denominator for all these heroes is that they consider themselves “hommes fatals”, extraordinarily attractive and fatal to those who love them. A. D. Galaxov,Russkij Vestnik, 1858, p. 610. A. N. Veselovskij,Zapadnye Vlijanija (M. 1916), p. 207. L. Ia. Ginzburg, p. 161. It is beyond the scope of this article to analyze the considerable psychological difference between Adolphe, Byron's heroes and Octave.