FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY (1821-1881), AUTOGRAPH Autograph letter signed to his elder brother Mikhail Dostoevsky (1820-1864). [St Petersburg, late 1830s - early 1840s]

Undated, without envelope. 3 pages on a double sheet. 21.4 x 13.5 cm. At the top of the double sheet, text written by one of the sisters (signed ‘Your sister’); further down the same page begins the letter of Fyodor Dostoevsky: ‘I’m sending you, dear Misha, 35 roubles. If the apartment suits you, then of course keep it for yourself…’. End of the letter: ‘Well, goodbye. May God help you to pass both your exams and [illegible] meant opium. Oh, these homegrown Latin scholars. Your F. Dostoevsky’. In good condition; fold marks. Mikhail Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (1820-1864) was a Russian writer, translator, playwright and magazine publisher, and the elder brother of Fyodor Dostoevsky. In May 1837 their father took the brothers to St Petersburg and enrolled them in K.F. Kostomarov’s preparatory boarding school to prepare for admission to the Main Engineering School. Mikhail, however, was not admitted, as a medical examination erroneously diagnosed him with consumption. From 1838 to 1840 he served as an engineering cadet (junker) in the Reval Engineering Corps; in 1840 he passed the exams for the first officer rank of ensign. Mikhail was the great Russian writer’s closest friend and support. Together with his brother he founded and edited the legendary magazines ‘Vremya’ and ‘Epokha’, in whose pages many of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s key works first saw the light of day. Mikhail negotiated with the censors, handled financial matters and managed the day-to-day running of the magazine; his support was especially important to Fyodor after his years of penal servitude. His brother’s death was a devastating blow to Fyodor Mikhailovich, who wrote: ‘He was my first and only friend... We dreamed together, and together we began our literary careers’. Their correspondence is an invaluable record revealing the inner world of both brothers. Provenance: The Aristophil Collections