The Jew Is to Be Burned: A Turning Point in the Communist Approach to the “Jewish Question” on the Eve of Catastrophe

Otto Heller, the Austrian-Czech-German communist intellectual of Jewish origin, was known almost exclusively for his 1931 orthodox Marxist book, Der Untergang des Judentums (The Decline of Judaism). A recently rediscovered unpublished manuscript of a second book on the “Jewish Question,” written by Heller in 1939 and entitled Der Jude wird verbrannt (The Jew Is to Be Burned), sheds new light on the man and his work. Furthermore, the unknown manuscript, as one of the longest communist accounts of the Jewish Question and antisemitism from that period, reveals a substantial turning point in the history of the communist discussion on those issues. Existing scholarship has identified novel political stances among communists, such as recognizing the Jews as a nation and as unique victims of Nazism only from 1942 onwards. Although Heller did not express such far-reaching political views in this lost manuscript, he did introduce an original theoretical approach to the Jewish Question. This article analyzes Heller’s theoretical innovations as early intellectual precursors of later dramatic developments in the communist political discourse.

A Newly Discovered Annotated Partimento Manuscript : "Rudimenti di Musica per Accompagnare del Sig. r Maestro Vignali" (1789)

The partimento tradition of eighteenth-century Italy developed within a musical culture that prioritized oral pedagogy. While these teaching methods were successful in producing generations of great composers, they have left scholars with vexing questions concerning the precise manner in which partimenti should be realized. The recent appearance of a remarkable and previously unknown manuscript—"Rudimenti di Musica per Accompagnare del Sig. Maestro Vignali," dated 1789—promises to shed invaluable new light on the oral tradition of partimento instruction. The manuscript's likely author is Gabriele Vignali (c. 1736– 1799), a maestro di cappella active in Bologna; it is unique in the presently known canon owing to the detailed footnotes that accompany each of its twenty-four Bassi (one in each major and minor key). Vignali's annotations provide precisely the sort of commentary that was ordinarily restricted to real-time explanation, teaching the student to recognize keys, scale degrees, modulations, cadences, typical bass progressions, and significant motives. The present article and accompanying English-language edition examine this exceptional partimento collection in detail, offering modern partimentisti the opportunity for the first time to listen in, as it were, on a series of lessons between an eighteenth-century maestro and his student.

TO THE HISTORY OF THE TRANSLATION OF CHRISTIAN TEXTS INTO THE UDMURT LANGUAGE IN THE GLAZOV СOUNTY OF THE VYATKA GOVERNORATE IN 1803

The article deals with the history of the first translations of Christian religious texts and prayers into the Udmurt language in Glazovsky Uyezd of Vyatka Governorate. Involvement in the study of archival documents from the funds of the Vyatka spiritual Consistory and Glazovsky spiritual Board allowed the author to describe in detail - chronologically accurately and thoroughly - the process of creating translations, to identify the authors of the translation of specific texts. In particular, it was established that at the initial stage there were no volunteers among the clergy of Glazovsky uyezd willing to engage in the compilation of translations. The spiritual Board turned to coercive measures and itself appointed translators from among the clergy who knew the Udmurt language, ordering them to appear for translation in Glazov. The first translation was performed jointly by priests N. Nevostruev, Z. Krotov, S. Anisimov and A. Babaylov ahead of events - even before receiving the list of texts assigned for translation. After receiving the list, the translation of the missing texts was carried out by the same persons individually, but only one of the translators sent his translation to the Glazov Board in time. In early July, translations from Glazov were sent to Vyatka. In the ecclesiastical Consistory the translations were checked and rewritten. As a result, the Synod was presented with a translation composed of two parts, one of which was performed by 4 priests together, and the other-alone by A. Babaylov. The study of the circumstances of the creation of the translation allowed to give answers to questions that remained unexplained for more than a hundred years, and to reveal new, previously unknown facts, including the previously unknown manuscript of the translation by N. Nevostruev and Z. Krotov.

Military Operations of the Polish-Lithuanian Garrison in Moscow Against the First Zemstvo Militia in Early 1611

Introduction. The article is devoted to the study of the military confrontation between the PolishLithuanian garrison and the Zemstvo forces to counter the organization of the First Zemstvo Militia led by P.P. Lyapunov in early 1611. Methods and materials. Information is analyzed from the previously unknown manuscript of the Diary of the Campaign of King Sigismund III recently introduced into the scientific circulation of materials from the “Russian Archive of Jan Sapieha”, the translation of “The Diary of Jan Peter Sapieha”, royal messenger Jan Komorowski’s report on the uprising in Moscow on March 19, 1611 and the Embassy book on relations between Russia and Poland 1615–1616. Analysis. The ways and goals of the Zemstvo self-organization, begun by Ryazan voyevoda P.P. Lyapunov, are shown and the centers of gathering forces are described. The article reveals the activities of head of the Moscow garrison A. Gosevsky in disrupting the unification movement of the former supporters of Tsar Vasily Shuisky and False Dmitry II, and suppressing the uprising in Moscow to gain a military advantage during the siege of Moscow by militias. Among the measures taken by the Polish-Lithuanian side there was the weakening of the streltsy troops in the Moscow garrison, and the disarmament of the townspeople; an attempt to make a coalition with the impostor hetman Jan Peter Sapega; blocking the main roads along which the militia could move to Moscow. By the order of A. Gosevsky, a campaign was organized for the joint ratification of boyar Prince I.S. Kurakin and the Polish-Lithuanian forces to Vladimir. A well-known role was played by the “Cherkasy” (Cossacks) detachments, who committed a punitive expedition to “Ukrainian cities”, which explains the absence of individual military units from this part of the Moscow State in the First Zemstvo Militia. Results. The main military attack was in Moscow on March 19, 1611, which led to the uprising of the inhabitants of Moscow supported by partisans of the First Zemstvo Militia, who at that moment found themselves in Moscow. The consequence of these events was the beginning of the liberation war in Russia.

Manuscript Circulation

This chapter challenges enduring assumptions about Pope’s early uses of scribal publication. Drawing on a wealth of famous and hitherto overlooked or unknown manuscript sources, it reconstructs the early circulation of Pope’s poems. The chapter explores the methods by which Pope’s fair copy holographs circulated among select readers and, in the second section, examine important differences between the manuscript and printed texts of his poems. The third section traces the distribution of his early poems in contemporary manuscript miscellanies. Pope’s earliest manuscript readers, it argues, viewed him as the latest addition to a grand tradition of seventeenth-century royalist poetry. The last section of the chapter investigates what remains of Pope’s juvenile epic, Alcander, Prince of Rhodes. Tracing the textual history of the Alcander manuscript from its origins in 1701 to its destruction in 1717, it argues that the poem’s non-appearance in print was probably due to political factors rather than literary ones.

Turkic Poetic Passages Written in Uyghur Vertical Script from the Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, RAS

The article contains photos housed at the Photograph Collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts RAS (folder Appendix No. 2, shelf mark ФВ-277/10) and their description. The photos feature short texts written in Uyghur vertical script on the margins of an unknown manuscript. The language of the manuscript itself is unknown, although some photos let us presume that it used the Arabic script. The texts on the photos are accompanied by their transcriptions in Cyrillic and Arabic letters made by W. Radloff. Examination of the verses has shown that they belong to several authors, including masters of medieval Turkic poetry.

Bernstein’s Philosophy of Time: An Unknown Manuscript by Nikolai Bernstein (1949)

The authors have presented an unpublished manuscript by Nikolai Aleksandrovich Bernstein written in the form of a diary in 1949. Bernstein focused on the concept of time as a coordinate in four-dimensional space and discussed a variety of issues, including the definition of time, its measurement, time travel, asymmetry of the past and future, and even linguistics. In particular, he offered a definition of life tightly linked to the concept of time. Overall, this manuscript offers a glimpse into Bernstein’s thinking, his sense of humor, and his sarcasm, intimately coupled with the very serious attitude to scientific discourse.

Does the Pagan King Reply? Malayalam Documents on the Portuguese Arrival in India

This article is a response to Sebastian Prange's essay in Itinerario 41, no. 1 (2017): 151–173 wherein he presented a ‘virtually unknown manuscript’ on the Portuguese arrival in India as an Indian voice, unheard in the existing historiography. Prange had consulted the English translation of a Malayalam text by John Wye, that the former had assumed to be lost. However its original palm-leaf manuscript (ōla) is kept at the British Library. This ōla, entitled Kēraḷa Varttamānam, brings to light some remarkable omissions and a few discrepancies in Wye's translation. Closely reading different manuscripts in Malayalam, Arabic, and English I argue that this ōla is in fact a translation of a sixteenth-century Arabic text, Tuḥfat al-mujāhidīn, well known among scholars of its place and period. Taking it a step ahead, I argue that the very existence of this text points towards the cross-cultural and cross-linguistic interactions between the Arabic and Malayalam spheres of premodern Malabar. The ōla demonstrates one of the first instances of Malayalam literature's engagement with a secular and historical theme as the arrival of the Portuguese. In addition, Malayalam works such as Kēraḷōlpatti and Kēraḷa-paḻama are clear voices from Malabar on the Portuguese arrival and consequent episodes.