Aleksandre Kazbegi’s Pocket Books

Abstract

The National Center of Manuscripts stores A. Kazbegi’s three pocket books, which preserve many interesting details about his life and activities. The material placed in these pocket books is thematically diverse: poems, plays, scenes, impressions, receipts, diaries, business records, autobiographical notes, etc.

The major part of the material collected in A.Kazbegi’s pocket books is still unpublished.
As an example, we can mention the extracts from the lost play “The Hero of Batumi”, which is preserved in the third pocketbook; the signature of a famous publisher G. Charkviani, which not only dates the second pocket book but also emphasizes the merits of the writer before Georgian folklore; hitherto unknown poems which evidence A.Kazbegi’s poetic talent and business records of the pocket book indicate that the author of the belletristic masterpieces was engaged in social activities and did a lot of good things for free.

The material collected in A. Kazbegi’s pocketbooks contributes to bring into light and perceive many details of his creative works and personal life anew. They are also interesting for the presentation and study of the writer’s psycho-type.