“... In addition to permission to print these poems, I received from Mrs. Baratynskaya a small but precious collection of letters from her late husband ... I decide to ask all of Baratynsky’s friends and acquaintances: would those of them who have his letters, send them to me in copies for inclusion in the collection of letters entrusted to me by the flattering power of attorney of Mrs. Baratynskaya? Biographical details would also be greatly appreciated. We Russians have often and rightly been reproached for indifference to our literary glories, for the absence of a commendable desire to get to know the personality itself, with the life of our poets. lately, however, a change for the better has become noticeable, and therefore I hope that my appeal will not go unanswered ... "