Proust, who seems to need no introduction, is known to the Russian reader (and generally known) only from the monumental epic “In Search of Lost Time.” Two or three of his stories, however very weak, were published in Russian in collections of French short stories of the twentieth century. Thus, the Russian reader could only guess about the period preceding the creation of Searches or take the word of the critics (to tell the truth, there are few critical works about Proust in Russian). This collection will at least partially correct the situation. The first part of the book consists of articles from the series “Against Sainte-Beuve”, reflecting the period when Proust, in search of his own style, created the so-called “pastiches”, in which he simulated the style of the French classics. The second is notes on literature and painting.