Representation of Alexander Bulgakov's Personality in His Correspondence With Vasily Zhukovsky (Based on Two Letters From Bulgakov to Zhukovsky in 1830-1835 From the Archive of the RAS Institute of Russian Literature)

This article introduces into scholarly discourse two letters from the Moscow postal director Alexander Bulgakov to Vasily Zhukovsky. The letters were written in 1830-1835 and are interesting for the representation of the personality of Bulgakov, who is known to the general public mainly in the outrageous role of the postmaster who opened letters written by Alexander Pushkin. Bulgakov's real figure, reflected in his correspondence with Zhukovsky, turns out to be more complex and significant. The first letter begins with a humorous greeting, which is characteristic of Bulgakov's epistolary manner of communication with Zhukovsky. Then Bulgakov tells his friend about the fee he received from Vyazemsky. After that he calms Zhukovsky, who is worried about the outbreak of cholera, first in the history of Russia. The latter manifests the inner resilience of Bulgakov, Zhukovsky's loyal friend and correspondent in Moscow: he makes optimistic predictions that “we would rather all get well than die”; loyally admires the courageous deed of Emperor Nicholas I, who arrived in the city; cheerfully anticipates a theatrical performance at the Bolshoi Theater; announces the engagement of his youngest daughter, the beautiful Olga, to Prince A.S. Dolgorukov; flirtatiously blames the 47-year-old Zhukovsky for his resisting to get married while Bulgakov himself is about to become a grandfather (being 48 years old at the time); and, finally, life-lovingly completes the message with another assurance that cholera will not affect him. This letter presents an outline of Bulgakov's living space - from sincere admiration for the emperor to a passion for culture - where friendship occupies a significant place, which is obvious both in the tone of the letter to Zhukovsky and in the mentions of Vyazemsky. Unlike the first letter, which opens with a mild reproach of the addressee for ignoring the correspondent's duty, the second letter, after the obligatory humorous preamble crowned with an appeal to actively write, contains an expression of gratitude “for the lines of August 4”, in which Zhukovsky asks to deliver several letters. The second letter ends with an expression of hope that the trip of the royal couple to Germany will be pleasing, a friendly joke about Zhukovsky's protracted bachelor life, the indispensable “I embrace you sincerely. Christ is with you”, a witty remark that includes an obligatory French inclusion, and a comment “Alexander Turgenev is silent!”. Between these, Bulgakov mentions the grief that befell on Vyazemsky (implying his daughter's death from phthisis), and the order to hug him. Like in the previous message, life and death coexist on the pages of this letter, but its tone, the expressed belief in the beneficial effects of time, finally, the indicated intimate detail that introduces the context of human communication, which serves as a counterbalance to gloomy thoughts about the inevitability and suddenness of death, - all this testifies to Alexander Bulgakov's inherent “lightness”, a distinctive feature of his remarkable correspondence with Zhukovsky.

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