E.M. Braudo and the “World Literature” Publishing House (New Archival Materials for an Academic Biography)

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Abstract:
The article introduces new documents pertaining to the biography of E.M. Braudo, an employee of the publishing house “World Literature”, an editor of translations of works by Goethe, Herder, E.T.A. Hoffmann, R. Wagner and others, into academic circulation. The subject of consideration is the working conditions, payment for work, fees and food supplies of employees in the unstable socio-economic situation of the early 1920s. Based on the minutes of the publishing house, it is established that in addition to the salary, “World Literature” had a system of rations and fees for preparing books for publication. Money was paid for translation, editing someone else’s translation, writing comments, editing them, writing pre- ambles and articles. From the first days of service at the publishing house, Braudo focused on editing translations of German-language authors. Archival research has revealed that Braudo became one of the first employees of the publishing house, and by 1924 he was forced to look for new jobs and left the publishing house, since pressure from the State Publishing House was leading to the curtailment of the activities of the “World Literarure.” V.M. Zhirmunsky was hired in Braudo’s place after his agreement. Through the efforts of the head of the State Publishing House I.I. Ionov, in December 1924 the “World Literature” publishing house was finally merged with the Foreign Department of the State Publishing House. Braudo moved to Moscow and linked his activities with publishing musicology and music criticism. The discovered archival materials testify to the high assessment of Braudo’s professionalism as the head of the German department of the “World Literature” publishing house and the sympathy he evoked among the employees and management of the “World Literature.”
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/CM.2949-0510-2025-6-338-355
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/RUKPFF
Author: Yakov D. Chechnev
About the author: Yakov D. Chechnev, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9439-0430 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: December 4, 2024
Date of Publication: May 14, 2025
Approved after reviewing : November 11, 2025
Publication Type: Research Article
For citation: Chechnev, Y.D. “E.M. Braudo and the “World Literature” Publishing House (New Archival Materials for an Academic Biography).” Codex manuscriptus, issue 6. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2025, pp. 338–355. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/CM.2949-0510-2025-6-338-355
Keywords: E.M. Braudo, “World Literature”, A.M. Gorky, Editorial Board.

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