Knowledge of his life is 'entirely dispensable'. 1883

Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (1818-1883)
Knowledge of his life is 'entirely dispensable'. 1883
Autograph letter signed ('Iwan Turgènjew') to an unidentified recipient ('Verehrter Herr'), 50 rue de Douai, Paris, 6 January 1883.

In German. Two pages, 188 x 123mm, on a bifolium. Provenance: Stargardt, 19 April 2011, lot 224.

Turgenev in the year of his death: 'For an appreciation of my literary activity [the details of my life] are entirely dispensable'. His correspondent has asked for some biographical information, but Turgenev cannot help: 'Articles on my life and works have appeared in sufficient quantities in various English, French and German newspapers and reviews; – yet I own none of these articles ... and wouldn't even be able to tell you where they are to be found. ... As far as my biography goes, the essential data (birth etc.) are reasonably well known; the other features have no interest for the public, as they remain within the bounds of private life. For an appreciation of my literary activity (and that is after all the main purpose of your work) they are entirely dispensable'. Two postscripts refer to an article in the Quarterly Review about him, and the publication of his collected works by Glazunov in Saint Petersburg.

By January 1883, Turgenev was already suffering severe pain from his terminal cancer, and could sleep only with the help of morphine: he was to die on 3 September.

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