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department of appanages, but he soon gave it up. In literature, however, he found his true vocation. In 1829 he published anonymously a poem called See also:

Italy, and, under the See also:

PSEUDONYM (Gr. >l ev&,vuµos, having a false name, ¢Evirls, false and ovoµa, name)

pseudonym of V. Alof, an idyll, Hans Kuchel Garten, which he had written while still at Niezhin. The idyll was so ridiculed by a reviewer that its author bought up all the copies he could secure, and burnt them in a See also:

ROOM

room which he hired for the purpose at an See also:

inn. Gogol then See also:

fell back upon South Russian popular literature, and especially the tales of Cossackdom on which his boyish See also:

FANCY (a shortened form, dating from the 15th century, of " fantasy," which is derived through the O. Fr. fantasie, modern fantaisie. from the Latinized form of the Gr. cbavraoia, Oavrai'ecv, Oat Pais, to show)

fancy had been nursed, his See also:

FATHER

father having occupied the See also:

POST

post of " regimental secretary," one of the honorary officials in the Zaporogian Cossack forces. In 183o he published in a periodical the first of the stories which appeared next year under the See also:

TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of Evenings in a See also:

FARM

Farm near Dikanka: by Rudy Panko. This See also:

WORK

work, containing a See also:

SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of attractive pictures of that Little-Russian See also:

LIFE

life which lends itself to See also:

ROMANCE

romance more readily than does the monotony of " See also:

GREAT

Great-Russian " existence, immediately obtained a great success—its See also:

LIGHT

light and See also:

COLOUR (Lat. color, connected with celare, to hide, the root meaning, therefore, being that of a covering)

colour, its freshness and originality being hailed with See also:

ENTHUSIASM

enthusiasm by the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal writers of the See also:

day in Russia.

Whereupon Gogol planned, not only a See also:

HISTORY

history of Little-Russia, but also one of the See also:

MIDDLE

middle ages, to be completed in eight or nine volumes. This See also:

plan he did not carry out, though it led to his being appointed to a professorship in the university of St Petersburg, a post in which' he met with small success and which he resigned in 1835. Meanwhile he had published his Arabesques, a collection of essays and stories; his Taras Bulba, the See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief of the Cossack Tales translated into See also:

ENGLISH

English by See also:

George See also:

Tolstoy; and a number of novelettes, which See also:

mark his transition from the romantic to the realistic school of fiction, such as the admirable See also:

SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch of the tranquil life led in a quiet See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country See also:

house by two kindly specimens of Old-See also:

WORLD

world Gentlefolks, or the description of the See also:

PETTY, SIR WILLIAM (1623-1687)

petty miseries endured by an See also:

ill-paid clerk in a See also:

government See also:

OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")

office, the great See also:

OBJECT

object of whose life is to secure the " cloak " from which his See also:

story takes its name. ' To the same See also:

period belongs his celebrated See also:

COMEDY

comedy, the Revisor, or government inspector. His aim in See also:

writing it was to See also:

DRAG (from the Old Eng. dragan, to draw; the word preserves the g which phonetically developed into w)

drag into light " all that was See also:

BAD, BCD

bad in Russia," and to hold it up to contempt. And he succeeded in rendering contemptible and ludicrous the See also:

OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official life of Russia, the corruption universally prevailing throughout the See also:

CIVIL

civil service, the alternate arrogance and servility of men in office. The See also:

plot of the comedy is very See also:

SIMPLE

simple. A traveller who arrives with an empty See also:

PURSE (Late Lat. bursa, adapted from Gr. Gupta, hide, skin; possibly O. Eng. pusa, bag, has influenced the change from b to p)

purse at a provincial See also:

TOWN

town is taken for an inspector whose arrival is awaited with fear, and he receives all the attentions and .bribes which are meant to propitiate the dreaded investigator of abuses. The See also:

PLAY

play appeared on the stage in the See also:

SPRING (from " to spring," " to leap or jump up," " burst out," O. Eng., springau, a common Teut. word, cf. Ger. springer, possibly allied to Gr. QnrFpxecOac, to move rapidly)

spring of 1836, and achieved a full success, in spite of the opposition attempted by the official classes whose malpractices it exposed. The aim which Gogol had in view when writing the Revisor he afterwards fully attained in his great novel, Mertvuiya Dushi, or Dead Souls, the first See also:

PART

part of which appeared in 1842. The See also:

hero of the story is an adventurer who goes about Russia making fictitious purchases of " dead souls," i.e. of See also:

SERFS, SERROS

serfs who have died since the last See also:

CENSUS (from Lat. censere, to estimate or assess; connected by some with centum, i.e. a count by hundreds)

census, with the view of pledging his imaginary See also:

PROPERTY

property to the government. But his adventures are merely an excuse for See also:

DRAWING

drawing a series of -pictures, of an unfavourable See also:

KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind, of Russian provincial life, and of introducing on the See also:

SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene a number of types of Russian society.

Of the force and truth with which these delineations are executed the universal consent of Russian critics in their favour may be taken as a measure. From the See also:

French version of the story a See also:

general See also:

IDEA (Gr. Ibia, connected with i&eiv, to see; cf. Lat. species from specere, to look at)

idea of its merits may be formed, and some knowledge of its plot and its principal characters may be gathered from the English See also:

ADAPTATION (from Lat. adaptare. to fit to)

adaptation published in 1854, as an See also:

ORIGINAL

original work, under the title of See also:

Home Life in Russia. But no one can fully appreciate Gogol's merits as a humorist who is not intimate with the See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language in which he wrote as well as with the society which he depicted. In 1836 Gogol for the first See also:

time went abroad. Subsequently he spent a considerable amount of time out of Russia, chiefly in Italy, where much of his Dead Souls was written. His See also:

RESIDENCE (Latin residere, to remain behind, to dwell, reside)

residence there, especially at See also:

Rome, made a deep impression on his mind, which, during his later years, turned towards See also:

MYSTICISM (from Or. µuety, to shut the eyes; µuorrts, one initiated into the mysteries)

mysticism. The last See also:

WORKS

works which he published, his See also:

CONFESSION (Lat. confessio, from confiteor, acknowledge, confess)

Confession and See also:

Correspondence with See also:

Friends, offer a painful contrast to the light, See also:

bright, vigorous, realistic, humorous writings which had gained and have retained for him his immense popularity in his native See also:

LAND

land. See also:

ASCETICISM

Asceticism and mystical exaltation had told upon his See also:

NERVOUS

nervous See also:

SYSTEM

system, and its feeble See also:

CONDITION (Lat. condicio, from condicere, to agree upon, arrange; not connected with conditio, from condere, conditum, to put together)

condition showed itself in his See also:

LITERARY

literary compositions. In 1848 he made a See also:

PILGRIMAGE (Fr. pelerinage, Lat. peregrinatio)

pilgrimage to See also:

Jerusalem, and on his return settled down at See also:

Moscow, where he died on the 3rd of March 1852. See Materials for the See also:

BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

Biography of Gogol (in Russian) (1897), by Shenrok; " Illness and See also:

DEATH

Death of Gogol," by N. Bazhenov, Russkaya Muisl, See also:

JANUARY

January 19o2. (W.

End of Article: GOGOL, NIKOLAI VASILIEVICH (1809—1852)

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