[A] In the letters here quoted in full, as well as in S. A. T.'s
autobiography, the spelling and punctuation of the original have been
preserved, except in the case of obvious mistakes.
[B] There is a contradiction here. In the autobiography printed below,
S. A. T. says that the seal with the coat-of-arms of the Bers family was
burnt in the Moscow fire of 1812, and that the Bers were not again
granted the right to that seal in spite of their applications, but were
only allowed to have on their coat-of-arms a hive of bees.
[C] It is unknown whether S. A. T. fulfilled her promise, since the
documents of S. A. Vengerov, among which the information should be, if
sent, are at present being removed from the late Vengerov's house to the
Institute of Learning, and the examination and cataloguing have not yet
begun.
[D] These and all other italics in the letters and autobiography are in
the original.
[E] The manuscript of the work, as was said above, is among Vengerov's
documents. It is catalogued in the first "collection" of autobiographies
under N 2740, and in a special catalogue its card has a short abstract
of the most important biographical data. (Professor S. A. Vengerov,
_Critical Biographical Dictionary of Russian Authors and Men of
Letters_, second edition, Vol. I; _Preliminary List of Russian Authors
and Men of Letters and Preliminary Information about Them_, Petrograd,
1915, pages xix and xxv.) The manuscript is in a cover of ordinary
writing-paper on which is written in S. A. T.'s handwriting: _A Short
Autobiography of Countess Sophie Tolstoy_. The manuscript itself is
typewritten and occupies twelve half-sheets of ordinary writing-paper
written on both sides, or twenty-four pages, of which the last page
contains only four lines. At the end of the manuscript is the date: "28
October, 1913"; place: "Yasnaya Polyana," and signature: "Countess
Sophie Tolstoy." All this is in typewriting.
[F] This is a mistake of S. A. T. She did not strike out anything in the
former manuscript. She only made a few alterations, adding considerably,
however, to the first half of Chapter 3, making that half a separate
chapter. She re-wrote Chapter 4. In her new manuscript, after the
beginning of Chapter 5, about the children, there is a note in pencil.
"Go on without change as in the former manuscript." In the first
manuscript the story about the children formed the second and greater
part of Chapter 3. Thus in the new manuscript, Chapter 3 was greatly
enlarged and became three separate chapters. Therefore S. A. T. would
have been more correct if she had said that she would strike out of the
first manuscript the first half of Chapter 3 and substitute the two new
chapters for it, making a separate chapter of the second half. The Roman
figures IV and V, marking the chapters, are in pencil in the new
manuscript and are followed by question-marks. As her letter shows, S.
A. T. roughly indicated the division into three new chapters, but left
the final decision to Vengerov.
[G] The manuscript of the additional material is not included in either
the first or the second "collection" of autobiographies, nor is it
catalogued; it is kept separately among the documents of S. A. Vengerov.
We must suppose that Vengerov intended to include it in the first
manuscript, but was prevented from doing so. It is, like the first,
typewritten on five half-sheets of ordinary writing-paper. At the
beginning and end of the manuscript are pencil notes by S. A. T.--at the
beginning: "Substitute for former Chapter 3," and at the end: "Go on as
in former manuscript." The manuscript has no date or signature. Both
manuscripts have been corrected by S. A. T. herself and in her own
handwriting.
[H] Tatyana Alexandrovna Ergolskii and her friend, Natalya Petrovna, who
was homeless and lived with her. Leo N. writes about them in his
_Reminiscences of Childhood_. They are also mentioned in Ilya Tolstoy's
_My Reminiscences_. (Moscow, 1914.) Of Tatyana Alexandrovna Ergolskii,
who died on 20 June 1874, Leo N. T. wrote to Countess A. A. Tolstoy:
"She died practically of old age, i.e. she slowly faded away, and as far
back as three years ago she had ceased to exist for us." See note 19
below.
[J] The old oak forest near the house. S. A. T.
[K] Kiev is famous for its churches and monasteries.]
[M] Chertkov.
[N] The story of the making of the will is related by F. A. Strakhov,
Petersburgkaya Gazetta, November, 1911. S. A. T.
[P] This extract from L. N. T.'s diary under date of March 27, 1895, is
from his first will. The wishes expressed in this diary are again
expressed by him in his diary for 1907. It was only in September 1909 in
Krekshino that he drew up for the first time a legal will, attested by
witnesses. Three copies of the diary of March 27, 1895 were kept; one by
Marie Lvovna Obolensky; one by V. G. Chertkov; and one by Serge L.
Tolstoy.
[Q] Tatyana L. Sukhotin and Count Serge L. Tolstoy are L. N. T.'s eldest
children.
[R] Doctor D. P. Makovitsii, one of the most intimate friends of the
Tolstoy family, a doctor who lived with the Tolstoy's and who remained
with L. N. T. until his death.
[S] L. N. T.'s daughter, Alexandra.
[T] Varvara Feskritov, S. A. T.'s late secretary.