Benedictov V. Poems. Volume 3, 1850 - 1856

Benedictov V. Poems. Volume 3, 1850 - 1856
Saint Petersburg: Krylovskaya printing House, 1856, 283 p. Hardcover, size 11 x 16.5 cm. Good condition. Lost spine, traces of seals, inscriptions. Pre-revolutionary label of the library of the Konstantinovsky Artillery school inside the cover. Rarity. P

Vladimir Grigoryevich Benediktov (5 [17] November 1807, Saint Petersburg — 14 [26] April 1873, ibid) was a Russian poet and translator. Secretary of the Minister E. F. Kankrin.

Son of a provincial official. He was educated at the Olonets gymnasium (1817-1821) in Petrozavodsk and in the 2nd cadet corps (1827) in Saint Petersburg, from where he was released as an ensign in the Izmailovsky regiment of the life guards. With this regiment, he participated in the campaign of 1831 against Polish insurgents and on the return of the guard to St. Petersburg, he left the military service, entering the Ministry of Finance, where he remained until the end of his service.

In 1843, he was appointed Director of the Board of the expedition of state credit tickets. In 1847 and 1856, he received the order of St. Anna of the 2nd degree and St. Vladimir of the 3rd degree. In 1850, he was made a full state councillor. In 1856, he was appointed adviser to the Board of the State loan Bank. In 1860, he retired with a pension and since then has lived "at rest" in St. Petersburg, then in the country, then abroad. 

He was elected a corresponding member of the Imperial Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences in the Department of Russian language and literature in 1855.

Benediktov wrote his first poems while still studying at the gymnasium under the guidance of his teacher I. F. Yakonovsky, who also had a passion for poetry. In 1835, benedictov entered the literary field with a small book of poems that drew the attention of critics and the public to the young poet (previously, only one poem appeared in print in 1832). Benedictov's early poems are imbued with romantic images, stormy metaphorics, energetic rhythmics of verse (characterized by polymetry, frequent changes in size within the poem), and word-making. Themes — romantic beauty of nature, love for the "ideal maiden", war, ball. The combination of violent imagery with prose — a characteristic feature of Benedict's style-produced on various critics a sense of "tasteless", then the impression of"a new poetic style".

Readers and reviewers greeted the book with a loud praise: it was bought in great demand, so that soon a new edition was needed; according to the story of I. I. panayev, Zhukovsky spoke of the new poet with enthusiasm; the most flattering judgments were heard from everywhere. Only Belinsky (in the" Telescope " of 1835) looked at the works of Benediktov from a different point of view and stated that they only show the talent of the poet, that is, the ability to deftly master the size and rhyme, but almost no poetic talent. The peak of popularity of early benedictov falls on the triennial of 1835-1838 (in 1838 the second collection was published), although the inertia of success continued much later.

During the Crimean war, benedictov made a number of Patriotic odes. In the reform period of Alexander II and the rise of "civic" poetry, he succumbed to this new public mood: it invited the reader to combat societal ills, welcomed the renewal of society ("Fight", "the new generation", "now", "7 APR 1857", etc.) In 1850-1870-ies he continues to create and lyrical works, different already less pretentiousness of style and greater philosophical depth; versification his skill remains on top.

In 1856, the complete collection of Benedict's poems was published in 3 volumes, and in the following year, "New poems"was published as an Addendum to this collection. In 1884, the partnership of M. O. wolf published the 2nd complete collection of Benedict's poems, edited and with an introductory article by Ya.P. Polonsky.

In 1869, benedictov compiled the first collection of mathematical puzzles in Russian, which was not published and remained only as a manuscript. It was found only in 1924. This collection is mentioned by Ya. I. Perelman in his book "Living mathematics", and also provides several problems from it.

For a long time, the legacy of benedictov was weighed down by the verdict of Belinsky, and in the late XIX-early XX century, the name of the poet was still a symbol of mediocre tastelessness. Only since the 1920s has benedictov's work been re-evaluated, which is associated with the works of Ginzburg and other Russian formalists, as well as with the awareness of the poetic practice of the Silver age.

Benedictov is one of the greatest poets and translators of his time. He translated works by Goethe, Schiller, Byron, Shakespeare, Victor Hugo, Auguste Barbier, Theophile Gautier and other foreign poets. Translated from Polish the poems of Adam Mickiewicz "Grazina" and "Conrad Wallenrod" (1863), as well as almost all of Mickiewicz's lyrics (not all published, as well as translations from Byron). His ostropoliticheskiy translation of Barbier's "Dog's feast" (1856), which was distributed in the lists and caused the delight of Taras Shevchenko, became very famous. Especially successful are his translations from Hugo, Gautier and other French romantics of the XIX century, close to Benedict's artistic language. A significant part of benedictov's translations appeared in the publications of N. V. Gerbel (1860-s).

He died on April 14 (26), 1873. He was buried in the Smolensk Orthodox cemetery. The grave was not preserved.