98 - Valeriy Yakovlevich BRIOUSSOV (1873–1924)

Valeriy Yakovlevich BRIOUSSOV (1873–1924) A handwritten letter in Russian dated November 1902 addressed to Jurgis Kasimirovich Baltruchaïtis (1873–1944). In it, he describes the oppressive atmosphere of his time spent among intellectuals such as Merejkovskiy and Pertsov, whose ideas he finds futile. But in his view, the divide between them and him lies not even at the level of ideas—which can change—but on a human level. “It is conceivable (though unlikely) that I might accept their convictions, but it is inconceivable that we will ever speak the same language. We are not on the same plane. We inhabit incompatible worlds. (...) All that’s left for me to do is wander here, like a vagabond, watching, writing in my journal, and leaving as if from a hotel, from a foreign country.” "It’s disgusting here, Yurgis. I feel just like I did at Andreev’s. I realize that all of this is dead, useless, rubbish. Merezhkovsky’s cries, and the ‘surrender’ of Pertsov’s soul (...) There are all these childish words all around, and one is almost *tempted to believe that all this is serious. (...) There is a chasm between us greater than the chasm of ideas—a boundless difference in people. Ideas pass; people remain. It is conceivable (though improbable) that I might accept their beliefs, but it is inconceivable that we would speak the same language. We exist in different dimensions. We are in opposite worlds. (...) All that remains for me is to wander here, like * a traveler; to observe; to jot things down in my notebook; and to leave, as if from a hotel, as if from a foreign country. Yours, Valery. St. Petersburg. Severnaya 177." MC Provenance -Jurgis Kasimirovich Baltruchaïtis (1873–1944), Lithuanian diplomat and poet. -Their son, Jurgis Jurgissovich Baltruchaïtis (1903–1988), historian. -His wife, Hélène Baltruchaïtis (1908–2004), née Castel-Focillon, daughter of Henri Focillon (1881–1943). -Then by descent.