Books of I.-W. Goethe and Victor Hehn about Italy in A.N. Ostrovsky's reading circle (1870-1880s.)

The article deals with marks of A.N. Ostrovsky in two books from his personal library stored in the Pushkin House: A Journey to Italy by I.-W. Goethe and Italy. The Views and Cursory Notes by German culture expert Victor Hehn. A few marks in pencil in the margins and in the text of the works are extremely important for the understanding of Ostrovsky's aesthetics and creativity in the 1870-1880s: they complete the picture of the range of the writer's reading on theater and give concrete material for the understanding of the nature of the playwright's perception of problems relating to Italy. Judging by the time of book publication, Ostrovsky's marks were made in the 1870-1880s: in V. Hehn's Italy no earlier than 1872, in A Journey to Italy no earlier than 1879; so the content of the marks is conclusive in relation to all Ostrovsky's works and life experience, including his perception of Italy. Ostrovsky had made his own trip to Italy (1862) by then; he had already translated some works by Goldoni, Gozzi, Ciconi, Franchi, Giacometti and others. The marks are made in the form of a vertical line along the text in the margin, correction of letters and introduction of the question mark "?", as well as underlining separate words and phrases. By their content Ostrovsky's marks can be divided into four groups: 1) marks on style; 2) marks on questions of natural philosophy, aesthetics, psychology of creativity; 3) marks associated with the theater; 4) marks relating to issues of language history. Analysis of the content of Goethe's and Hehn's reasoning on the problems of philosophy of nature, evaluation criteria of works of art, psychology of creativity that Ostrovsky marked and considered in the context of his aesthetic reflection reveals a deep connection of the realistic aesthetics of the Russian writer and the enlightening ideas of European culture embodied in the works of Goethe. In his works, Ostrovsky interpreted Goethe's appraisal of Goldoni's comedy as a theater aimed at the national consciousness and expressing its mentality as possessing a sense of the most important artistic principle - national spirit. A.N. Ostrovsky's marks in A Journey to Italy by Goethe and Italy. The Views and Cursory Notes by Hehn indicate Ostrovsky's continuing deep interest in Italy. Judging by the content of the marks, the image of Italy, formed in the artistic consciousness of Os-trovsky, was close to Goethe's understanding of Italy and its art as a cultural phenomenon, which gave the world an example of a harmonious unity of simplicity, naturalness and plastics with the spiritual, poetic ideal.

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