Studia Litterarum Studia Litterarum 2500-4247 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2500-4247-2025-10-2-326-339 Research Article Articles A.N. Tolstoy’s Notebooks: From the Document to the Text of the Novel Peter the Great Akimova Anna S. red@studlit.ru June 25, 2025 2025 December 04, 2024 A.N. Tolstoy worked on the novel Peter the Great for over 15 years, from 1929 to 1945. The writer admitted that the creation of a historical work about the era of Peter I was preceded by thorough preparation, which was associated with the accumulation of material, the study of historical sources, and attempts to use the language of that time in short stories. The article examines Tolstoy’s notebooks which testify to the writer’s long work on the language of the work and contain extracts from historical works, names and features of the characters, plans and sketches of chapters and individual scenes, as well as words and phrases. A.V. Alpatov was the first who attempted to use notebooks when commenting on the novel. Subsequently, he published materials for the book under the title From A. Tolstoy’s Notebooks to Peter the Great in the appendix to his monograph. Notebooks from the 1910s associated with the beginning of Tolstoy’s work on Peter’s epoch remained out of the researcher’s field of view. A.N. Tolstoy Peter the Great notebooks historical sources scientific commentary Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 1. 1 Alpatov, A.V. Aleksei Tolstoi — master istoricheskogo romana [Alexey Tolstoy — the Master of the Historical Novel]. Moscow, Sovetskii pisatel’ Publ., 1958. 355 p. (In Russ.) 2. 2 Bantysh-Kamenskii, D.N. Biografii rossiiskikh generalissimusov i general-fel’dmarshalov s 48 portretami: v 3 ch. [Biographies of Russian Generalissimuses and Field Marshals with 3. 48 Portraits: in 3 parts]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiia Tret’ego Departamenta Ministerstva Gosudarstvennykh Imushchestv Publ., 1840. (In Russ.) 4. 3 Kurakin, B.I. “Gistoriia o Petre I i blizhnikh k nemu liudiakh. 1682–1695 gg.” [“History About Peter I and People Close to Him. 1682–1695”]. Russkaia Starina, no. 10, vol. 68, 1890, pp. 238–260. (In Russ.) 5. 4 Semevskii, M.N. Ocherki i rasskazy iz russkoi istorii XVIII v. “Slovo i Delo!” (1700–1725) [Essays and Stories from the Russian History of the 18th Century. “Word and Deed!” (1700–1725)]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiia V.S. Balasheva Publ., 1884. 340 p. (In Russ.) 6. 5 Solov’ev, S.M. Istoriia Rossii s drevneishikh vremen: v 6 kn. [The History of Russia Since Ancient Times: in 6 books], book 3. St. Petersburg, Tovarishchestvo “Obshchestvennaia pol’za” Publ., [1911]. 1580 col. (In Russ.)